About the Artist

Born in Columbia, SC, Cynthia Cochran Kinard grew up in the mountains of western NC where her father was born and raised. From early on her father blessed her with the necessary tools for experimenting with various mediums and by age eight Cynthia knew she had found her calling. Starting with charcoal portraits, she acquired an early love for rendering likenesses. One day her father brought home a beautifully illustrated book of the life and times of Rembrandt. From that moment on, Cynthia was an avid student of the Old Masters. She rejected the various art movements through the years and clung to her passion for realism with its inherent academic disciplines.

Cynthia went on to earn a BA degree in Art and a BA degree in Modern Foreign Languages from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, where she graduated with honors.  Her academic training began there under a Polish artist, Wielhorski. Altogether, Cynthia has over eight years of formal training. Like the Old Masters, her interests were broad, including writing, science, architecture, and later computer programming, all of which in one way or another have been important to her career as an artist.

While at Western, Cynthia’s senior project was to copy a self portrait of Rembrandt. She accomplished this 5' x 4' painting of the “The Standard Bearer” using the grid method. In 2005 she completed another copy of a Rembrandt 1640 Self Portrait in Italy employing the methods of underpainting, overpainting and glazing techniques used during the 16th and 17th centuries by such masters as Rembrandt, Titian, Velasquez, van Dyck and Hals. During the time Cynthia was in Italy she studied these 16th and 17th Century Portrait Painting Techniques at the Angel Academy of Art under Maestro Michael John Angel, one of the foremost portrait painters in the world. Maestro Angel studied under Pietro Annigoni, who was the artist of the century in Italy in the 1900's. Cynthia visited many art galleries and museums while she stayed in Florence and Rome and furthered her studies of the Old Masters. She particularly sought out works by Caravaggio, whose realism has always appealed to her.

Although Cynthia began her professional career (while still in college) as a commissioned portrait artist using the medium of watercolor, since 2005 she has worked in oils using these new techniques and she loves the fluidity, permanence and rich quality of this medium. With her watercolors, however, she uses a detailed dry-brush technique in this demanding medium to create very realistic portraits. The level of expertise is evident in her delicate brush strokes. Also, her strict use of archival materials ensures that legacies in portraiture may be created. Her training in watercolors was under noted watercolor artist, William Whiteside.

In 2009, Cynthia continued her academic studies at The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas which was founded by Benjamin Long IV. Mr. Long also studied under Pietro Annigoni. This school was a continuation of the studies she began in Italy. One of the teachers at the Fine Arts League was Roger Nelson, who studied under Richard Lack. He was a wealth of information and taught the demanding medium of fresco, which Cynthia found very challenging. She also studied under John Dempsey, who studied at the Florence Academy of Art.  Another teacher at The Fine Arts League was John Mac Kah, a well known landscape artist, under whom she studied landscape and still life.

Richard Lack, who was one of the most influential pupils of R.H. Ives Gammell, was co-founder of The American Society of Classical Realism. Cynthia was a member of this Society and subscribes to the tenets of Classical Realism to this day.

Cynthia has gained entrance into many juried national and international shows. Her awards include Strathmore Paper Award in 2004 for her entry in the annual juried Watercolor Society of NC exhibit, Signature Status in the Missouri Watercolor Society, Signature Status in the Watercolor Society of NC, Patron Awards, Merit Awards, Merchant Awards, Placement Awards, Special Recognition, Grand Championships and many others at local, regional, state, national and international levels. She was accepted into the Living Artists 13th Edition, Marquis Who's Who in American Women since 2006, Who's Who in America since 2007 and Who’s Who in the World since 2008. Cynthia’s paintings have been featured in numerous galleries from California to New York and worldwide in online galleries. Although she is a member of a number of prestigious Societies, she is most proud of her association with the Art Renewal Center, which has been at the forefront of the Realism comeback.

Although Cynthia is primarily a portrait painter, she also enjoys collage and has designed a pewter angel pin. She has Gicleè prints and cards of some of her work and is a writer. Her book, Castleknob, was published in 2005 and is the first in a series of Christian fiction entitled The Kudzu Clan.  The second in the series, The Sanghunters,  came out in December of 2016. She has also written, The Life of Faith and Divine Health, which came out in 2012.  These books feature Cynthia’s Self Portrait on their back covers.

Cynthia's husband, Jim, built her studio behind their home so that she can enjoy the wildlife while she paints. She also writes from her reclusive “tree house” life which she shares with her husband and their dogs in Franklin, NC.

In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, scouting the area for new subjects to paint and continual study of the arts. She has also traced her artistic roots back to the 1500's and discovered her roots include such artists as David and Ingres.

Artist's Statement

I began my painting career at age eight. My goal from early on has been to capture those special moments in a person's life that illustrate joy and happiness.

Sometimes it might be a moment when a young girl on her way home from school stops to swing out over a river on some weeping willow branches just within her reach ("Girl Swinging") or a hunter who pauses beside his campfire to enjoy his coffee and think about his night's hunting ("Raymond by Firelight"). Other times it might be a farmer who pauses in the midst of a hot workday to hold close his little son and think of the legacy that he is leaving ("Harvest Legacy"). Or a red-haired young boy who is joyfully playing in the fall leaves with his Irish Setter ("Reds"). Regardless of the composition, I have sought to illustrate moments of inner peace, joy, and satisfaction.

I believe that God did not intend for His crowning creation to live their lives fraught with worry and care. I believe He meant for us to enjoy each other, His creation, and Himself. He meant for us to live life abundantly, and that is so simple. Therefore, I seek to capture these moments in time with the hope that we all might stop and savor the lives we have been given.