About the Artist

Sasha Kinens (b. 1972) began her Fine Arts studies with master classical realist James C. Prohl at his atelier in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . During two years of intense study that included detailed figure drawings and plaster cast studies, Kinens honed her technical skills in pencil, charcoal, and oil. Kinens furthered her education in Hillsdale , Michigan as an apprentice to Italian master Richard Serrin. In addition to receiving several high-profile portrait commissions, Kinens taught art courses at private elementary schools, including the nationally recognized Hillsdale Academy .

In 1991, Kinens traveled to her family's native Latvia . Latvia had recently regained its independence after fifty years of Soviet occupation and Kinens and her Latvian-born father were allowed access to the home and studio of her great uncle, the renowned Latvian artist, Karlis Sauka (1904 – 1983). It was there in the midst of her ancestor's brushes, paints, and rolled-up canvases that Kinens fully understood the legacy she had inherited.

Kinens' current work is influenced by Symbolism and the Pre-Raphaelite movement. The technical aspects of her classical training have given her the freedom to paint realistic figures and place them in unrealistic or mystical settings. Her work has been featured in galleries in Los Angeles , Chicago , and Milwaukee . Kinens has received numerous public and private commissions, including a painting for the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado and a portrait of writer Russell Kirk. She has also illustrated several children's books and teaches private art classes.