Phoenix Rising Painting

A native of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Cynthia appreciated from a very young age the natural beauty of the world around her. Now living in the shadows of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, she delights in the everyday poetic rhythm to all four seasons. As an award-winning photographer and self-taught artist, color is what drives her creativity in both photography and on canvas. Inspired by the emergence of spring leaves and flowers; the full burst of summer skies and dense forests; the warming tones of fall harvests and the stark greys and whites of winter, Cynthia photographs and paints the not-so-obvious details often overlooked in our busy lives. As a student at Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Cynthia was exposed to several fine art and performing art disciplines from a young age. Growing up surrounded by artistic talent, Cynthia's mother was an art major and is now a poet. Her sister pursued her creative drive by earning two degrees in Fine Art from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her daughter is an accomplished artist and photographer living in Australia. Creativity is a genetic trait! Finding beauty in something as simple as a forest path, to using art as an expression of our times, Cynthia is instinctively fascinated by the life and colors of everything natural. Unforced and spontaneous, she captures moments in time and space that are all at once unexpected, engaging and agreeably grounding.