Clare Cryan was born in Dublin and educated in Sion Hill and subsequently at the National college of Art and the Belfast College of Art. She was appointed as Master of the Preliminary School of the National gallery of Art and worked there for four years before resigning to develop her own work.

In 1971 she founded the Blue Door Studio in Ballsbridge and since then has become one of this country's most noted art teachers, with many of her students making a significant contribution to Irish painting.

In 1987 she was elected a Member of the European Institute of Watercolours.

For several years she represented Ireland at the Festival International Paris-Osaka Exhibition which toured Japan.

Exhibitions:
Belfast, Wexford, Dublin, Galway and England, Paris, Antwerp, The Hague and Luxembourg.

Her work has featured regularly in the R.H.A, the R.U.A. and the Oireachtas exhibitions in Ireland and many such exhibitions in the U.K.