Shirley trevena palette

Meet the Artist

 
 
I was born in Brixton, London. My mother and her mother were both dancers and singers. My father worked in the making of fantastic films and television. My background as a child was full of theatre, circus and, most exciting of all, cinema. All that colour on a big screen has to have influenced my colourful compositions.

One day, after many years working in local government, I was given a box of watercolour paints and discovered that painting was what I was meant to do all along.

Since I resigned from my planning job over 25 years ago to become a full-time artist, I have had the most wonderful adventure in discovering what marks I want to put onto paper and how to make colours sing.

I enjoy working with watercolours and mixed media, my subject matter mainly still life, but I have been known to branch out into abstract landscape, monoprinting and pen and ink work.

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with painting. I would rather do anything than start a painting: clean the oven, make lists or even do the ironing. But once I’m in th

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