Melissa Hefferlin
United States
An American artist born in Tennessee to Californian parents, Hefferlin studied in the United States and in Soviet Russia. She was the only American to study at the Russian Academy (Leningrad) in the Soviet era. There she met artist Daud Akhriev, and since 1991 the two have been professional artists.
Soviet Realism and Soviet Impressionism are very important to Hefferlin, though she also credits California artist Michael Newberry with much of her formation. Happiest in oils, but also proficient in pastels and relief printing, Hefferlin focuses on still life and figurative work.
She has been featured in Artists Magazine, International Artist Magazine, Pratique des Art, American Art Collector and Pastel Journal. There is a coffee table about her work, "The Things We Take With Us," and Hefferlin is an author of a book about Russian painting.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
