Cherie Dacko

From Polish ancestry, artist Cherie Dacko was born in Chicago but raised in Tampa, Florida. She received her BA at USF and joined an Ybor City artist’s co-op after graduation. Her 25-year career of photographic retouching and restoration honed her skills as a portraitist and piqued her interest in antique imagery and clothing. Dacko has painted her entire life and figures she is well past the "10,000 hour rule." She has taught classes in painting, drawing, and global arts to adults, teens and children for the past 10 years in museums, galleries and in her studio at Gallery on First in Sanford, FL. Her distinctive style of warped figurative paintings, "Bent Realism," has earned her a loyal following, and collectors range from a 9-year-old to a 90-year-old. Her work is in public and private collections (including that of political satirist Stephen Colbert) throughout the United States, Canada and France. Website: www.cheriedacko.com