My name is James Hiatrides, I grew up on the North shore of Long Island New York about an hour away from the city. I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember. I started taking painting seriously during early highschool. I went to an Art school outside of highschool that gave me the opportunity to try many different types of mediums, from creating installations to charcoal figure drawing. This was the place when I realized I wanted to be an artist as a career. I’ve exhibited at a couple of galleries, one in Port Jefferson and the other at Fishers Island. I ended up being a TA at Atelier at Flowerfield helping kids between the ages of 9-12 paint. I also had the opportunity to study off a local artist by the name of Bill Graf where I learned alot about traditional painting. During my first semester of Junior year I had the opportunity to travel to Cortona Italy for a full semester. This was a significant part of my growth as a painter, as I learned about renaissance paintings and seeing them in person truly changed how I wanted to paint. I plan on continuing my education in Florence Italy after my graduation.