Renowned for her exquisitely detailed figurative compositions and paintings of birds against luminous gold and silver grounds, Austrian artist Clarissa James brings together the discipline of Renaissance painting, the romanticism of the Pre-Raphaelites and the refined elegance of Japanese decorative art. Raised in Munich, Germany, James began her creative career in film production at Bavaria Film Studios before moving to England in 1992. Her early experience in sculpture and theatrical design helped shape her understanding of the human form. In London, she immersed herself in classical drawing and painting techniques, studying works at the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum, alongside human anatomy at University College London. Influenced particularly by George Frederic Watts and Edward Burne-Jones, she further developed her classical training at the Florence Academy of Art in 1997. Working predominantly in oils, James employs traditional layering techniques, meticulous preparatory drawings and occasionally hand-ground pigments to achieve remarkable luminosity and detail, with individual paintings often taking several months to complete. She is also an accomplished practitioner of silverpoint drawing. Inspired by the gilded screens of Japanese decorative art, her distinctive bird paintings feature cranes, peacocks and falcons against richly gilded backgrounds, uniting naturalistic observation with a contemplative, timeless quality. In 2006, James was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, becoming a full member in 2009. In 2011, she was invited to work in the historic studio of Frederic, Lord Leighton at Leighton House Museum in London. Exhibited internationally, Clarissa James's paintings are held in private collections throughout Europe, the United States, Japan and South Africa. Working between London and Salzburg, she continues to explore the beauty of the natural world and human form through the enduring traditions of classical painting.