Lady with gold earring - 24 carat gold leaf on earring Painting

Victoria Kirtley studied art until the age of 19 before embarking on a design-based course at University. After an 18 year corporate career, and once her children were old enough to attend school, Victoria began painting full-time. Born in Torbay, and now living in Exeter, Victoria has lived in the Westcountry for most of her life, Victoria’s experience of living in Devon, and close to nature, influence the themes and colours of her work. “Having spent much of my childhood on the beach, walking on Dartmoor and visiting the Cotswolds, my current work is influenced by the subject and colours that I see, know and love. My current work therefore has a ‘coast & countryside’ theme, but with a bias towards wildlife and nature”. Victoria predominantly works with acrylics and mixed media, but a common thread that runs through most of her art is metal gilding (gold, silver and copper), either as a minimalistic, representational image, or in the background, to add depth, colour and texture. Victoria uses finishes, and how light reacts to those finishes, to add dimension to the paintings. Her works often include clear brush marks, pallet knife work, flicks of paint and details in oil pastels to bring a sense of originality, movement and fluidity. Whilst Victoria’s work often has a back-story, occasionally, Victoria’s art is simply for the beauty or fun: “Art can be almost meditative: When you’re drawn into a picture, it can be calming or it can serve as a visual reminder to an idea. If I manage to evoke a positive emotion, memory, sentiment or mood through my art, then I have achieved what I set-out to do”.