Irene Cole was born in 1964 in Montclair, New Jersey and from 6 months old lived in Ringwood, New Jersey. After beginning her career in New York City she settled in Manchester, Vermont where she has lived for 35 years. She earned a bachelor degree with a major in painting from Skidmore College in 2008 and a graduate certificate from the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture in 2023. Her work has been exhibited in Vermont and upstate New York.