Ivan was born in Prague Czechoslovakia in 1954. He grew up in a very artistic family where he learned the rudiments of, ceramics, woodcarving, jewelry, metalworking, sculpting and fashion design. Stanek completed his apprenticeship in blacksmithing with an ornamental metal designer in 1983 and then began restoring historical pieces. He then was told by the communist government that he could not continue to work as an independent artist. He and his wife then decided to risk everything and escaped to the USA. Knowing only 3 words of English, he was able to start a new life here in NH, and very soon started his own independent business, Stanek Design, which he owns till this day.