Byron Priore was born into a world of art. From an early age, he was surrounded by ceramics, weekend art shows, and the whimsical creations at his own little booth—mushrooms, dragons, space monkeys. His mother, Elna Pedersen, devoted her entire life to her one true calling: artist. So it’s no surprise that Byron, raised in that creative atmosphere, gravitated toward sculpture. The magic of the third dimension drew him in.
After high school, he enrolled in the art program at San Jose State, chasing his passion. But with limited funds and no roadmap, college wasn’t the transformative experience it’s often made out to be. So—he pivoted—to the U.S. Army. A brief enlistment gave him space to regroup.
Post-military, Byron returned to art with a new focus, creating ceramic buffalo skulls. Around the same time, he fell in love, got married, and started a family. Sculpting at night, casting on weekends, and selling at local art fairs became his rhythm. To support this budding venture, he took a job in a stockroom, thinking it would be a six-month detour. (What’s the difference between an artist and a pizza? A pizza can feed a family of four.) Six months turned into six years.
But the detour wasn’t a dead end—it was an unexpected journey. Byron rose from stockroom worker to inventory control lead, which opened doors into IT. He became a business analyst, then a functional architect, designing systems and streamlining processes. Yet even during those corporate decades, art was never far. He found his outlet at Burning Man. For 17 years, he lived as a full-time artist one week a year. And not just any artist—a world-renowned one. He built art cars, launched theme camps, and fell headlong into costume design. What started with ceramics came full circle in fire-lit deserts and mythic installations. The kid who once sold space monkeys had finally built a universe of his own.
Byron infused three decades in the tech world with creativity, mastering the art of technical innovation. But 30 years was enough. It was time to fulfill that promise he made to himself. So with family raised, and head held high, it was time to walk out the door of corporate America and into the realm of art. His first endevor, the IronStone collection.
Now, Byron lives in Coarsegold, California—close to nature, surrounded by the stones he loves. It’s here, among the whispers of granite and pine, that art and life continue to shape one another.