Oil painting

Shirley feels her inner voice has called her to paint for as long as she can remember. Her childhood passions were growing, drawing and painting flowers. She eventually turned her attention to painting full-time under the tutelage of her mentor, Len Chmiel. Shirley’s studio overlooks the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Shirley paints in oils using a wet-on-wet technique. She paints en plein air whenever possible either in her garden or on location when she travels.

“What I try to do with paint is recreate the joy I experience in my subjects—the flowers I grow and the wildflowers in the mountain meadows.”

Shirley shares the same passions with Claude Monet, Pissarro and Van Gogh, artists who were also avid gardeners. “My garden gives me great joy and countless ideas for paintings. Each year I let nature have her way and let seedlings sprout in new places and in combinations I wouldn't have thought of.” There are always delightful surprises in every corner of her garden.