About Irene

I am a retired guitar teacher, a writer, music producer and artist. I was born in Vancouver BC and grew up in Richmond, but I have made the beautiful city of Victoria my home since 1983.

Teaching guitar, songwriting and music production was my main focus for 36 years or so, but writing and painting have also been my passions. I started writing in a journal, like a lot of girls did, in the 70s. I started writing songs at the same time. Eventually, my songwriting improved enough to record my songs.

I performed in many places over the years, starting out playing covers and eventually performing my own songs. In 1989, I decided I wanted to teach guitar, since I knew I had a knack for teaching. I’ve literally taught hundreds of students over the years. I retired in July 2022.

My website has been in existence since 1996, and I initially used it to promote myself and my songs, eventually hosting a forum for songwriters as well as writing articles on songwriting. It was actually mentioned in the Wall Street Journal once! Eventually, I also began writing a personal blog, and although I still have my songwriting and guitar blogs, my focus has shifted over to my personal blog, which is the main feature of this website now. Lately, some of my blogs have shown up on the CHEK News website.

And lastly, I have always loved sketching, but only did it on rare occasions until a couple of years ago, when I was inspired to try again. As my sketching improved, I was encouraged to try water colours, and I haven’t stopped since then! You can find examples of my watercolours on the Artist section of my website.

Phew! Is that everything??

IJ