My name is Saralene Tapley. I am an Irish-American artist, and I just moved back to the Houston area from NYC. I lived in The New York City Area for three years. I moved there from Houston, Texas, where I lived for 9 years, to receive my MFA from the New York Academy of Art. Previous to that I lived in Dublin, Ireland for 9 years and London, England for 1 year. I finished my BFA in Dublin’s National College of Art and Design. Upon moving to Texas, I completed my Masters in Arts and Humanities at University of Houston – Clear Lake. My childhood was very colorful. I lived in the United States until I was eleven and then moved to Taiwan and Korea where I finished secondary school. I still maintain relationships with my childhood friends even though many of them are spread around the globe. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister. My two brothers are some of my best patrons. My older brother, Matthew, owned a wine bar called Vino, in Montreal, where quite a few of my works hung. I also have murals and paintings hanging in various restaurants and hotels in Dublin. I must attribute most of my interest in art to my parents that have been very encouraging of my career path, despite it’s many hardships. Most of my training as a child came from my mother, from Wisconsin, who is a very talented artist and teacher. I spent most of my childhood watching her draw portraits of local families and taking her art classes. My father, from Dublin, Ireland, is a skilled carpenter and engineer, and has been very generous with his time and wood working skills creating frames and hanging devices for my exhibitions. What I enjoy most about working in the arts is that I can continuously reinvent my artwork. There are many mediums to explore and subjects to discover. I also enjoy seeing other artists work and comparing and learning from different ideas and forms of visual language.