Shirley Trevena RI has always tried to break the rules of conventional watercolour painting and over the years she has developed a wonderfully loose way of painting using a dynamic palette of colours. Shirley has been a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour since 1994. She has an international reputation and is regarded as one of Britain’s most innovative artists in the medium. She is author of 4 best selling books: Taking Risks with Watercolour, Vibrant Watercolours, Breaking the Rules of Watercolour and Shirley Trevena Watercolours. Shirley's paintings have been published on greeting cards, stationery and wall art with great success. Please get in touch to see more from Shirley. The following galleries are only a small proportion of the archive and it is being added to all the time!

Florals have always been a favourite subject matter for Shirley. The paintings have proved popular with buyers of originals and greetings cards. The bright palette and confident brush work appeals across the board. Shirley says 'flowers give me an endless source of information for my compositions. Spiked and curly leaves, fat and thin petals and glorious colour combinations'.

Still Life is another favourite genre for Shirley. Her paintings have strong compositions, unusual perspectives and, above all, strength and vibrancy in her colour compositions. Shirley says that for her, still life is working with the familiar, recognisable object, be it isolated or in a group: the need to put objects together in such a way that changes their familiar ordinariness into a king of transparent film of reality. Many of the objects that Shirley has collected over the years have become firm favourites and appear in several of the paintings.

These little paintings deserve a gallery of their own. They formed one of the most popular ranges of cards when Shirley ran her own card and stationery company, Clifton Print Products.

Not all Shirley's work is still life and floral, or even all water colour! See this gallery to view Shirley's popular monoprints for a very different look and also landscapes and abstract landscapes. The same trademark fascination with colour, composition, light and shade is very much apparent.