Renate Bibow Mjelde was born in 1968 in Norway. She grew up in Kongsvinger, a small city in the countryside. Drawing was a big passion from early age, and she won several drawing competitions as a teenager.

A few years later she developed an interest in oil painting, and she studied art history in her hometown.

 In 1987 she was elected Miss Norway and for the next 5 years she was working in Japan, Barcelona, Athens, Vienna and Norway as an international fashion model. During her adult life she has lived in Oslo, London and New York raising 4 children, while working as a creative director in brand development and brand building for an international Vodka brand.
Creativity has always been a big part of her life, and after moving to the south of France in 2012 with her two youngest children, she is happy to have more time to follow her passion for painting in a part of the world that has inspired so many artists before her. Enjoy some of her work here: