Doctor also talented artist

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Kris Mleczko started drawing when he was 4 or 5 years old. By the time he was in first grade, he could outdraw his art teacher.

He later drew pencil portraits of people and cats — cats were his favorite — and gave the works to his subjects and other friends.

In high school, he began painting with oils.

“That worked pretty well, too,” he said.

At 16, he started a portrait of his father but didn't finish before he began applying himself more to his studies. Facing the possibility of military service in his native Poland, Mleczko pursued a medical degree and chose to become a doctor like his father, graduating in 1979. During college, he continued to draw but didn't paint much.

He had wanted to study the fine arts, but his parents encouraged him to be a doctor because of the stability and income it offered.

“They were being practical, and I ended up being practical, too,” he said.

It was only later he found out that his poor eyesight would have given him a permanent deferral from the military. Had he known that as a young man, he would have taken a year to “paint like crazy and go to art school.”

Instead, the anesthesiologist found himself leaving Poland due to the political turmoil there.

“I decided to rebuild my life elsewhere,” he said.

In 1984, he came to Nebraska, where he got a medical degree from the Creighton University School of Medicine, where his father had a friend. He chose to become a pathologist because at the time anesthesiology was a popular discipline and native-born applicants were more likely to be accepted into programs, he said.

“It actually worked out great,” he said.

Mleczko has worked at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island since 1991. His parents and his brother eventually moved to Nebraska as well, and brought with them the portrait Mleczko had started of his father. The picture was rolled up and had been damaged but Mleczko, who is now about the same age his father was when the painting was started, said he recently began working on the portrait again.

“I hope to hang it in my home next year,” he said.

He paints now when he has the time. He recently finished a portrait of a colleague's daughters.

He began the work in 2005 and worked on it as he had time. He finished the work earlier this year and presented it to the Swift family to hang in their home.

Cathi Swift, whose husband, David, works with Mleczko, said she asked him to create the painting after watching him sketch her husband one night as the two couples sat around a table talking.

Mleczko asked for a piece of paper and a pencil and in 20 minutes he had sketched Swift's husband and his surroundings.

“It's so good we put it in a frame,” she said.

To create the painting of Caroline, Sarahbeth and Mary Swift, Mleczko had them wear black dresses and arranged them near a window. Two of the girls held musical instruments during the photo shoot. Mleczko said he took photos for about 30 minutes until he found an arrangement that was “pleasing to the eye.”

He wanted the image to balance static and movement and to give the viewer a sense of calmness.

He used the photo as a sketch to create the painting and said it has a three-dimensional feel.

Cathi Swift said she didn't see the painting until it was completed. She was amazed.

“I thought it was the photo,” she said. “We used that photo as a Christmas card one year. When people see the portrait, they think it's the photo.”

She said it is very detailed and looks as if you could feel the softness of the couch by touching the painting.

“I wouldn't have him change anything,” she said, adding that he really captured her daughters' personalities and attitudes. “I was so impressed with Kris.”

Mleczko said he wishes he had more time to devote to his hobby. He works full time, enjoys traveling and often has work to do in his yard and around the home he shares with his wife, Julia Foote.

“Art comes naturally to me and I like doing it,” he said.

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