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Pablo Picasso once said, "Every child is an artist... the problem is how to remain an artist once one grows up." For Irene Borg, that hasn’t been the least bit difficult. Not only has she earned a quite respectable living from her art for decades, Borg remains much in demand. With paintings in numerous galleries, prints distributed around the world and ongoing commissioned work, she’s as busy as ever. As for an average retirement…it’s simply not in the picture.
A typical day for Borg starts with going to the gym, where she works out with weights, along with using the treadmill and other machines. “I have to keep my energy up,” she says. That’s because she’s back at home in her studio by 7 am to paint until three in the after noon— with no breaks—where, currently, she’s working on a series of California landscapes.
Counting herself lucky to remain in demand after so many years, Borg is commissioned to produce art for a broad range of clients. Her average canvas size is 48” x 60” and she recently completed a 7’ x 8’ depiction of the Eiffel Tower. “It was too big for my studio,” she says, “so I had to work on it in the garage. That was quite an experience.”
When asked where she finds her inspiration, Borg says that nature plays a huge role. She has also used her grandchildren as subject matter, and looks to the current market and culture. She says that today’s art is more subtle and sparse than previous styles.
Pursuing Her Passion
Art was not so much a choice for Borg, as simply a calling. She’s a native Californian and the daughter of a landscaper who owned a small nursery in San Gabriel. Borg says the early exposure to aesthetic arrangements of trees and plants had a profound effect on her creative inclinations. She recalls that she was “always making something” as a child—dresses, purses and other creations—or outfits for her pets.
“I started painting way back, just for myself,” she says. “It’s what sustained me…getting me through school and giving me purpose.”
Not surprisingly, that sense of purpose led her to study art. As a teenager, she studied at the Pasadena Museum, followed by the prestigious Chouniard Art School. Borg also had the opportunity to study with the Russian master painter, Sergei Bongart, as well as Spanish landscape and marine painter, Joseph Mendez.
The ability to pursue her passion for art—and make a living at it—has always been extremely rewarding for Borg, who says she once painted for Aaron Brothers at $25 dollars per painting. Since those early days, she’s taught art privately, worked with the Soicher Marin Gallery in Los Angeles for nearly a decade and owned her own graphics printing business in partnership with her daughter.
Additionally, Borg had shows at Bullocks department stores, while also creating custom abstracts for hotels, selling artwork to Jackie O’s decorator and living for a time in Florida, where she had a small studio.
While she pursued figurative art early in her career, Borg has embraced a broad range of subjects and styles over the years. As her body of work continued to grow, she focused on mothers and daughters, as well as the romantic innocence of childhood through depictions of tea parties and maypole dances. Influenced strongly by nature, she’s also found inspiration from the abundant vineyards and gardens of European country sides. More recently, Borg focused on Tuscan landscapes, missions and buildings.
Borg started the Lu Martin Gallery in Laguna, among others, and has her work on display there, as well as at Desert Art Source in Palm Desert and Houshang’s Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A Vital Lifestyle
A very spiritual person, Borg says she finds both tranquility and inspiration in meditation and yoga. “I’ve studied metaphysics and meditated for many years,” she explains, adding, “I find it to be very helpful in life.”
Borg’s overall sense of wellbeing involves her passion for animals, however she has room only for her two cats—Elliot and Lorna—in her condo. She loves gardening and seeing things grow. Borg is a mother of two and has four grandchildren, as well as five great-grandchildren. In her “spare” time, Borg loves flea markets and the opportunity to find “wonderful old pieces of art.”
“I’ve been very lucky,” adds Borg. “It’s very rewarding to be able to make a living doing what I love. However, it’s an experience that is much more than monetary. To me, creating a painting is a lot like life. You start with an idea of where you want to go and, somehow, the idea takes on a life of its own. And that’s the beauty of it!”
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