Polish-born American painter Miriam Briks was born in Wroclaw, Poland. Raised in New York, she graduated from the School of Art and Design and studied figurative painting and drawing extensively at the Art Students League of New York.
For the next six years she worked as an illustrator and art teacher in Los Angeles and Florence, Italy. She also continued her studies at the Academy of Art in Siena. Originally trained in classical art, she began exhibiting her work in Paris, Italy and England. Upon her return to the Untied States, she took up residence in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.