Although Irene sees herself primarily as an artist, her varied background has given her a wide range of experiences to draw from.
She has an Associates degree in Computer Technology, a Bachelors degree in Business, and a Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling.
She had worked years as a therapist and counselor at several centers for battered and abused women. This has allowed her to see both the dark and bright sides of people, although, as an artist, she strongly favors images that uplift and vitalize the human spirit.
With her education and experience with computers, she comfortably works her way through web and blog design.
A world traveller herself to several dozen cities and countries, from Israel to Germany and from Paris to Venice, she uses her cherished memories to draw inspiration for her many paintings.
In her earlier years, Irene was a competitive skydiver with thousands of jumps from San Jose, California to Sao Paulo, Brazil. She also owned her own plane and has flown it up and down the California Coast on many occasions.
Irene has also invented a special tool that allows artists to make high-definition rubber-stamped images that have previously been unachievable. She is also the first internet seller of colored gouache - a specialty watercolor product that is favored by many other artists.
These days Irene is a prolific artist, often completing an original piece of art everyday in media such as watercolor, collage, pen and ink, and dye cuts.
She will also, on occasion, note that her close relative, Francisco Bollaín y Goitia García (1882 - 1960), an artist who gained fame during the Mexican Revolution, had painted many artworks that emphasized his own unique style of realism. Whether guided by his inner torments or influenced by the prevailing mood of the times, Francisco developed a large following of his "beautifully-dark" images and portrayals.
Irene, however, while developing her own style of whimsical art, has taken a uniquely-opposite approach to the mood of her images. She says that, no matter the style, good art is all about evoking a feeling or creating a memory. She hopes that her own art will do both.
All images copyright © 2011 - 2017 Irene Prior. All rights reserved.
