Having grown up in New York State, Ohio, and Vermont and completed an art history degree (1968) at Middlebury College, VT, Cynthia Krieble traveled west to study painting, BFA (1970) San Francisco Art Institute and MFA (1973) Stanford University. Now a Professor Emeritus, she taught painting and drawing at Central Washington University for 28 years (1973-2001) before retiring from academia to paint full-time.  She also taught studio art at Anhui University in China several times: 1997-98, 2004, and 2007.

The course of her work has followed the course of her life: From the empty barracks-like space of her Stanford studio to her “organic still-life” series, intensive, up-close investigations of subjects from nature (dried sunflowers, pheasant pelts, sunbleached bones…) on to a progression of magnified chickens; then, dogs and cats, all manifestations of her life in rural Washington.  Based upon this work Krieble received the Central Washington University award of Distinguished University Professor in Artistic Accomplishment in 1987.  Seeking a deeper emotional connection with her subject matter, her full attention then turned to the landscape of places she knew best, central Washington and northeastern Vermont.

Krieble’s paintings have been exhibited primarily in the Northwest and are in numerous collections including that of the Washington State Art in Public Places Collection.  A few of her paintings are permanently installed locally in the entrance to the CWU Library, Barge Hall, and in the entrance to Kittitas Secondary School.