Lonni Clarke

Classical realist painter Lonni Clarke, known for her portraiture, paintings of figures, horses, and still life, grew up in Thousand Oaks, in suburban southern California. Trips to European museums as a teenager greatly influenced her artistic ambitions and also her very classical ideals and modes ... moreClassical realist painter Lonni Clarke, known for her portraiture, paintings of figures, horses, and still life, grew up in Thousand Oaks, in suburban southern California. Trips to European museums as a teenager greatly influenced her artistic ambitions and also her very classical ideals and modes of expression.
After earning a degree in History from UCLA and a degree in Fashion Design from Fashion Institute of Technology, Lonni worked in the New York fashion industry. After a brief stint as designer, she felt compelled to shift her focus to increasingly creative and more independent modes of expression. She took up fashion illustration and eventually transitioned into illustration and fine art, aided by study at the Art Center College of Design.
After having been the archetypal horse obsessed adolescent girl, Lonni returned to the subject of horses when she began to paint in oils. Not coincidentally, she lived just minutes from Santa Anita Park, one of the world’s premier racetracks and great equine spectacles. The pageantry of sleek horses and raucously colored racing silks filled her canvases. After moving to rural Utah in the 90s she began painting the pastoral scenes around her and commissioned portraits for clients around the US. Lonni painted a number of portraits, still lifes, and equine paintings for Polo/Ralph Lauren corporate offices and flagship stores, and for Polo print ads.

Lonni's illustration has been seen on book covers and in magazines for major New York publishers. Her commissioned portraits grace many private collections.

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