Glen Tarnowski was born in Southern California, in 1961. His formal education in oil painting began at the age of eight when his innate talent for painting and unique perception of color revealed itself in his first art class. He continued his formal art education at California Lutheran University and The Pasadena Art Center College of Design, separated by extensive self-study in the art capitals of Europe. He later returned to California Lutheran University to teach painting. Tarnowski brings stunning vitality, depth and emotion to his still-life paintings. Influenced by an intense formal education in art and the painstaking study of the works of Old World Masters Rembrandt, Reubens and Chardin. Tarnowski's use of Chiaroscuro techniques provides his still-lifes with a vibrant dichotomy of old world feeling and contemporary realism. Tarnowski has created in fact "Modern Allegorism" , a whimsical and paradoxical approach to transform everyday 21st century objects into a visual essay on the modern condition. Tarnowski's talent is recognized by his peers, art associations, and the art press as well as notable private and corporate art collectors. Tarnowski's museum placements include the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia, the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn N. Y., the Boca Museum of Fine Art in Boca Raton, Florida and the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado. He was the recipient of the 1996 Angel Winner Award, a finalist in the 1997 Artist Magazine International Competition, the 1998 Oil Painters of America National Show in Washington, D.C. and the 1999 Oil Painters of American Regional Show in Chicago, Illinois. He was also the featured artist in the October 1999 issue of "The Artist's Magazine". Tarnowski's collector list includes Hollywood celebrities such as Mel Gibson, media moguls Ted Turner and Aaron Spelling, institutional collectors such as the Billy Graham Institute and a variety of corporations including Twentieth Century Fox, TRW, Nordstrom Corporation and major media networks including NBC and CBS.