                                                 Biography

Renata was born in Czechoslovakia and immigrated to the US as a teenager to join her family.  Her passion for the arts started early in middle school through being inspired by her art teacher Mr. Kral and her grandfathers. One was a shoe designer, and the other grandfather made a bronze bust of the first president of Czechoslovakia.  Renata currently resides in North Olmsted, Ohio, where she raised a family and worked in the corporate world for 25 years.

She then decided to follow her passion for art by studying with portrait artist Bill Kufahl and later fine art at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she received her Certificate of Completion in 2004.  Renata is classically trained using Flemish glazing technique giving paintings a timeless quality. Most of her paintings are done in oil on canvas.  Frequent visits to the Cleveland Museum of Art and admiring the Renaissance paintings depicting Royalty in their elaborate clothes inspired Renata to begin her series.

She also found inspiration in the history of fashion and the icons, which are important subjects in her series "Homage to the Art of Fashion."  Renata’s life-like portraits capture the essence of the individuals.  Her art is inspired by old masters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Cecilia Beaux, Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent, and other artists. 

Her art has been shown locally and internationally in Venice, Bologna, Sarzana, Fermo, Grottamare, Porto Sant’ Elpidio, Massa Tuscany, Montecosaro, Lerici, Florence, and Rome, Italy; Salzburg, Austria; and Prague, Czechia; and Bratislava, Slovakia.

             " A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." ~ Michelangelo

Artists statement﻿

My artworks focus on capturing the individual's essence and emotions. I have been inspired by the paintings of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Cecilia Beaux, Berthe Morisot, John Singer Sargent, and other artists. I have always admired Renaissance artists depicting fashion in their paintings. These artists were also known for creating costumes, designing textile patterns, and embroidery. Flemish artists like Rubens and Anthony Van Dyck also found inspiration in clothing. Van Dyck's portraiture taught us the fashion worn at the court of Charles 1 in the 1630s. 
The classical Flemish glazing techniques I used in my paintings give a timeless quality, capturing a frozen moment of the human emotion. My artworks highlight the vital relationship between fashion and art during the tumultuous years of the 1960s and 1970s.  The vibrancy of the era’s fashion inspired me to create paintings of the icons that reflect the spirit of these decades in my series “Homage to the Art of Fashion.”  I also wanted to capture the events of each decade that influenced people's lives by creating my book " Homage to Art of Fashion - 1960s and 1970s" with headlines and photos of major events and Icons.

                  Honoré de Balzac wrote: "Fashion is the expression of society...fashion is, all at once, an art, a custom, a sentiment."

Homage to Art of Fashion

“My series is about the defining role of styles and fashion worn by icons and models throughout the 1960s and 1970s. I was inspired by 1960s and 1970s through research studies and documentaries of those decades influenced by political and social movements. Young people were rebelling conservatism through their music, art and clothing, expressing their desire for World Peace, Love and Freedom. That inspiration was pivotal in my creation of the series called: “Homage to Art of Fashion”. The spirit of that era impacted the changes in the fashion industry and the trends of those decades.”

CLICK TO SEE MORE PAINTINGs IN THE HOMAGE to Art of fashion SERIES Gallery

Homage to Art of Fashion

Landscapes

Portraits & Other

Still Life