By permission of the artist, The Cyber Art Show is pleased to feature the first of two 12-piece exhibitions of works by Russian 

landscape painter Irina A. Pisarenko (born 1950 in St. Petersburg, Russia).

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Irina Pisarenko's interest in art manifested at an early age when she preferred drawing and painting to running around with other kids. Her father was an actor and a director of a Cultural Center (Dom Kul'tury), he often engaged Irina to help with painting sets for the local theater and other artwork for the Center. When she turned 14, in addition to her high school studies Irina entered her first professional art program, the Painting Department at the College of Art at Minsk, Belarus (Minskoe Hudozhestvennoe Uchilische), from which she graduated with a Red Diploma and the Best 5% Student Award.

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After graduating from the College of Art at Minsk and a year of teaching painting, Irina moved to her ancestral city, St. Petersburg, Russia, took a year program in a prep school at a State Mukhina College (podkursy) and then she entered her second college-degree program in Mukhina College, (later renamed "Baron Steiglitz Academy of Art and Design") studying architecture and design. With many other disciplines, painting, drawing and composition continued to be important parts of the curriculum. This art school is one of the oldest and best art schools in Russia, with a rich history, particularly for great classic training in Fine Arts combined with modern thinking. The school combines an innovative approach with an "old school" foundation. Most of Irina's students were selected as "Best of School" and her teaching materials were taken to the archive as an example for the following generations of students and the school's proud heritage.

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After graduating from Mukhina College, again as one of the best students, Irina continued developing both directions in her career--architecture and fine art. She joined a major architectural company in St. Petersburg, working all over the country and abroad. Besides building in St. Petersburg and Moscow, she became one of the first architects building "Oil cities" in Siberia and worked on projects for the Olympic Games  in 1980, some of the most-important projects in the country.

Regardless of her busy schedule, Irina continued her painting and graphic work. She took interest in a program in a State Art Academy in etching and was highly praised for her skill and artistry in that technique. She participated in numerous art shows, including home shows, organized by and for professional artists. Biannually at the Professional Union of Artists, she had solo exhibitions of her artworks from her travel to England, visiting her parents-in-law. At that time, when traveling abroad from Russia was an extraordinary event Irina wanted to share her artistic vision and experience with the public.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Irina joined a Japanese-Russian design company and while working there she was introduced to a Japanese art collector who purchased a great number of her etchings and paintings. At the same time her works were juried in and sold at the museum shops such as Hermitage, Ethnographic and the Museum of Political History.

After moving to the USA, Irina has been creating her artwork primarily in New England, working on commissions and participating in shows along the East Coast. Her works were sold to private collections in Japan, Paris, Italy, England, Brazil and other countries.

She is a Member of the NH Plein Air Artists Society and the National Portrait Society. In addition, Irina executed murals in public buildings and continues designing residential and public spaces.