I am a multi disciplined artist working in paint , pencil , charcoal, mixed media, wood and collage. My studio is based in the beautiful town of Melrose in The Scottish Borders and minutes away from the River Tweed. It is surrounded by fields and one of my favourite views is the distant Border hills which I can see while standing at my easel. They feature often in my work. My background is in textiles which has been a lifelong interest to me and eventually became my business. My father was a handloom weaver on the Island of Mull and at the age of 41 after bringing up a family and handweaving in a shed I studied woven textile design at The Scottish College of Textiles where I won awards for innovative fabric design . While there one day a week we drew and painted in a visual studies class and that is where I fell in love with painting. On graduating I set up a textile design business and travelled the world selling to high end shops such as Harvey Nichols and Hankyu in Japan .My most enjoyable commissions I undertook were for the Royal Academy in London .I designed scarves inspired by paintings by Barbara Rae, Vuillard. Munch and sculptures by Degas and Anish Kapoor .This combined my love of painting with my love of textiles . I am fortunate in that I have been able to return to drawing and painting. I create what moves me emotionally. I have no formula and am always being inspired by what I see in front of me . Because I do not exhibit in galleries I feel free to work in many different styles without constraints.
My brother and sister-in-law were visiting Scotland and brought me back, to Idaho (United States) one of your scarfs as a gift. It is beautiful and I love the textures feel of the fabric.
Just found your new website Shirley. It’s great to see your new work, it looks fantastic, you are just as enthusiastic as ever and such an inspiration. Hope to catch up some time soon. Audrey, Aberfeldy x
Well done Shirley! All the best from the neighbours up the hill xx
Super to have a website to showcase your superb work.
Yay! Well done.
Really good online presence. ߙ
Love your new website, Shirley! Almost as much as your fantastic work. ߘ Great job!