Ismena Halkiewicz was born in Poland and is a graduate of the Fine Arts Academy in Cracow, Poland. From 1991 to 1992 she attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg, Germany.
Ismena Halkiewicz is an accomplished fine artist, with an extensive history of exhibitions, mural work, interior restoration, and faux finishing. She has exhibited her work in five countries in Europe, Canada and the United States for close to 20 years; she has shown her work in fine art galleries, universities, public buildings such as restaurants and performing arts organizations, government buildings, art festivals, etc. Her work is retained in universities, private collections and with foreign consulate buildings around the world. She was awarded as top fine art student at the Academy of Fine Art Krakow. She has completed approximately 60 murals in buildings both public and private, including a variety of styles and techniques from renaissance to super-realism. Halkiewicz works with all kinds of faux finishing techniques including glazing, stipping, dragging, Venetian plastering, sponging, Distressed Wood Finish, and more. She paints realistic and stylized portraits to meet commercial and personal needs. Materials range from oil on canvas to watercolor, acrylic and mixed media; color schemes include monochromatic, sepia and full color palettes from traditional to contemporary.
MURALS
Ismena Halkiewicz has completed approximately 60 murals in buildings both public and private, including a variety of styles and techniques from renaissance to super-realism. Her murals adorn restaurants, retail stores, offices, private homes, government buildings, and places of worship, and building exteriors. She brings years of experience and understanding of classical painting and restoration; a good eye for matching color schemes to location; the imagination needed to create relevant scenes to complement the architectural structure at hand, both traditional and abstract in design. Halkiewicz will produce an initial concept design and samples to allow for preview of your finished environment. She works in spaces ranging from childrens’ nurseries to large scale panoramas with dome ceilings; she will restore and preserve existing murals as needed with stylistic versatility.
PORTRAITS
Every portrait is different, like a finger print, every eye is different. I see the soul of my subjects through their eyes. Before I begin to paint a person, I investigate the color that reflects their aura and energy. I try to portray a person’s character through understanding their profession and personal interests, which can be expressed certain color schemes. I try to observe and describe my subjects through their tastes and preferences in life, using different degrees of detail or referring to colors in clothing, architecture and personality. Sometimes my clients know exactly how they want to be portrayed and other times I take initiative and find their particular nature through observation and dialogue. I am inspired by the surrealist art work of Magritte and Dali, as well as the Symbolism of Paul Klee, so my paintings often can include elements other than the figure which help to define the mood and character of my subjects.
FAUX FINISHING:
Ismena Halkiewicz has over twenty years of experience working with decorative paintings, murals and faux finishes. She has worked in private residences in Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and in three boroughs in New York. One of her biggest projects was working in the Villa Maria in Water Mill, South Hampton, where she worked for almost a year. In Manhattan you can see her work in commercial places like Roman Malakov Diamond Store in the Diamond District (1 West 47th St), St Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Roman Catholic Church (101 East 7th St), and Neptune Restaurant (194 1st Ave). She specializes in the following techniques: Venetian plaster, marbling, sponging, stippling, distressing, antiquing, combing, trompe l’oeil, spattering, and marmorino.