Shirley began her professional art career in 2001 in the Washington, DC area.

Proficient in numerous art mediums her favorite subjects include landscapes, brilliant sunsets, nautical scenes and wildlife that express her enjoyment of nature and passion for artistic realism. She recently discovered the challenge of watercolor painting on black paper for a dramatic non-traditional approach to watercolor painting.

Her art has won many awards and has been featured in major publications, exhibitions, and galleries from New Jersey to Florida. Commission work includes illustrations for a world-wide public relations firm, local businesses, and individual collectors.

Shirley is the Founder of Harbour View Gallery, Cape Coral, FL, a member of COCO Gallery (Estero, FL), the Working Artists Forum (Easton, MD) where she is the Membership Chair, and The Artists’ Gallery and the Chestertown River Arts both in Chestertown, MD.

She is a four-time juried artist for the prestigious Plein Air Easton Local Color exhibition in Easton, Maryland.

Shirley teaches at the Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers, FL and for Women of Watercolor, Naples, FL.

In 2010 she was nominated for the Southwest Florida annual Angels of the Arts, Arts Organization Leader of the Year Award for creating Harbour View Gallery and spearheading the first annual 2010 “Paint the Cape” plein air competition and exhibition.  She was one of seven Cape Coral artists selected for the 2013 Alliance of the Arts Annual Art Studio Tour.

Shirley and her husband David maintain residences in Cape Coral, Florida and Rock Hall on the eastern shore of Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay.