Bio.
Shirley Kirkcaldy is a contemporary landscape painter, living and working on Dartmoor in southwest England. Drawing inspiration from the interplay between light, land and sea, she is best known for her distinctive expressive paintings of the coastlines and wild moorlands of Devon and Cornwall.
Shirley’s work has been represented by several prominent southwest galleries as well as being exhibited widely and held in private collections in UK, Europe, USA, New Zealand and Singapore.
She is an elected Academician with the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts (SWAc) and has featured across a range of media including Devon Life, Dartmoor Magazine, The Artist, Light in the West publication, BBC Radio and ITV’s ‘Unwind with ITV’ series, a programme featuring real-time artists at work.
Statement.
My work is an expressive interpretation of the landscape, with a deep sense of place at it’s heart. It explores the beauty and remoteness of this southwest corner of England, in all its weathers and seasons.
Paintings are created in the landscape as well as from sketches and studies made in situ and developed later in my studio. Synonymous with light, atmosphere and energy, they are rich in personal responses, searching for something more than the obvious and overriding the need for direct representation. This allows a freedom to interpret and explore new ways of expressing ideas through the physicality of paint and other media, whilst also capturing an authenticity borne of a specific location.
Ultimately, paintings determine their own direction and their own conclusion and what lies within their layers becomes as important as what can be seen on the surface …. much like the landscape itself.
My Studio.
My studio is located at Buckland Abbey, a historic National Trust site nestled in the moorland near Yelverton, Devon [PL20 8EY]. It’s a working space where you will be able to see paintings in progress as well as those for sale on the studio walls. Also stocked are special edition prints, greeting cards and a unique range of contemporary homeware and affordable gifts, all professionally reproduced from my original artwork and handcrafted in the UK.
It is surrounded by woodland walks, with Dartmoor on the doorstep and on site is the National Trust cafe offering a delicious array of food and drinks, ideal if you want to make a day of it!
Usual opening days are Thursday to Sunday but please check before making a special trip as I may be working away from the studio. For visits outside opening times please get in touch here.
My Etsy shop also offers my homeware collection if you wish to purchase this online.
