The picturesque scene of city lights brightening the horizon easily roused Yukio Iraha, when he made his decision to attend Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. The magnificent views of snow peeked Mount Hood looming in the distance and hovering over the city provides an awe-inspiring place to study art. Iraha earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drawing and Painting, and while in college, he was awarded the 1993 Liquitex Excellence in Art Purchase Awards in an Art Student Grant Program. Currently residing in Fairview, Oregon, Iraha is deeply immersed in all aspects of his artwork. He primarily spends his time researching and sketching new ideas, while trying to conjure inspiration from every aspect of his life. Yukio Iraha normally does his paintings in water-based acrylics on wood panels, and Mr. Iraha can be seen as an impressionist painter, using deep bold colors to liven his artistic style. When asked what the defining moment of his creative peak was, Iraha replies "being brought up in a materialistic, over-stimulating world of Pop Culture, I think it was inevitable to be influenced by the style and images of television shows, music and all other forms of media." Now his primary goal in art is to express tranquility.