Minnesota born, Florida Portrait Artist Jeffrey Hurinenko (b. 1962) graduated from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Shortly after graduation he began apprenticing with artist Charles Kapsner, who was trained in Italy at Studio Simi, and learned Italian methods of painting. Hurinenko trained with Kapsner for a five-year period. He was also influenced by Old Masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Bouguereau and Fantin Latour. Hurinenko was intrigued by their varied methods of underpainting and transparent layering of color. He learned the differences and similarities between their schools of thought and found that there are advantages and limitations to every style of painting.

Hurinenko incorporates the unique techniques of the Italian, Dutch and Flemish into his paintings today.  He uses a combination of bistre, grisaille and direct methods for his initial lay in.  He then layers transparent colors over one another in glazes to give his paintings depth and inner luminosity. Thus his paintings bring to life the people, places and events they portray.

Video Interview with Jeff Hurinenko

Laura Goodrich interviews Jeff Hurinenko on "Life to the Max." They tour his house to see paintings of his daughters. They also visit the home of Alvina O'Brien to discuss the painting titled "Tea with Alice." Jeff discusses his training and how he and Joe Paquet began their studio.