Bio

Pauline Rakis

Pauline was born in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of five her family relocated to Washington, D.C. where Pauline grew up and went to school.

At, age 17 as a junior at Calvin Coolidge High School she took an art class that inspired love of art and her decision to pursue art after graduation. Growing up in an immigrant family in the 1950s and 60s, art school was not an option, so her life took the traditional route of marriage and children.

 When her children were in school, she took a part time job at a local bank as a teller. While she didn’t know what the job entailed, she knew the hours coincided with the school hours. The part time job grew into a management position. While working in the financial services industry, Pauline finally earned her Bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C.  Before leaving her position of Vice President, she had survived 8 mergers and acquisitions.

Pauline’s passion remained the art world as she raised her family and built her banking career. Preparing to leave the bank, she began taking art classes and workshops. She immersed herself in weekend sketching classes, acrylic painting workshops, and finally programs and classes in France, Greece and Canada.

Having explored various media and styles, Pauline expanded her portfolio of landscapes and still life to included abstracts and collages. Frequently, she does not declare an intention for her paintings. They evolve from the application from the shapes and colors she applies to the surfaces. Viewers and her collectors have commented on the joy they feel from her bold colors.

“Creating art has taught me to challenge myself to go beyond what is comfortable and give myself the freedom of discovery”

-Pauline Rakis