Mindeli
Mindeli was born in 1976 in the town of Tbilisi, a region of Georgia, Russia. Her father was a renowned abstract painter in his own right, and held a strong, early influence on Mindeli's pursuit of painting. In particular, he instilled in her the daily discipline that she still claims is so vital to her progression as an artist. She produced her first sketches in his studio, and advanced quickly under his instruction. However, most of this early work - in reaction to her father's abstract art - was starkly realist. Mindeli pursued this style until she had perfected it. She still believes this foundation in realism informs and aids everything she does.

The cultural turmoil of her homeland acutely affected Mindeli, and she translated much of that instability into her early drawing and painting. This early realization that external distress could be sublimated into creative beauty greatly impressed Mindeli regarding the powers of the artistic medium.

In 1992, she enrolled in the Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts, where she began her intent studies of art history. Finally surrounded by a community of artists, Mindeli felt that she had discovered a group of peers with the same passions and pursuits as her own, and firmly decided upon an artistic career. She graduated in 1997, and made a difficult move to the United States to further her studies and broaden her cultural experiences in order to expand her range of artistic themes.o the environment in which she grew up.