Meet The Artist, Irene Read
and Charlie Read, the Woodcutter

Irene lives in the West Neck area of Virginia Beach, with her husband and woodcutter, Charlie.  She first picked up a paintbrush in 1979 and began classes in oil at a little shop called The Angel’s Loft in Coronado, California in 1979.  She has worked at the Apple Tree in Springfield, VA and also The Craft Studio in Vienna, VA.  Irene has been involved in decorative painting for over 30 years and has been fortunate enough to paint with such wonderful artists as Betty Caithness, Susan Stamillio, Lia Anderson, Helen Cavin, Scottie Foster, Maureen McNaughton, Janet Riegel, Karen Hubbard, Melinda Neist and Ros Stallcup. She has been the recipient of several ribbons in the Virginia State Fair for her Santas and is a member of the National Society of Decorative Painters, the Nation's Capital Chapter and the Tidewater Decorative Painters.