Shelly Gurton is a native of Georgia having been born and raised in Savannah and Atlanta. She attended the University of Georgia where she received her BFA. Upon graduating from UGA, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in the Fashion Industry as textile designer. After spending several years as a professional textile designer, she moved on to painting full time.
My current body of work consists of botanical oil paintings on canvas focusing on the flower. Flowers, are especially enchanting and beautiful, illustrating a condensed version of the life cycle. They are captivating in their loveliness lending themselves to visual illustrations of color, texture and form. In addition to being beautiful and enhancing the landscape, flowers also encapsulate the life cycle of all living things, including human beings. This is because like human beings, each one is distinctive and their time on earth is precious and fleeting. Having said that, I think it is wonderful when both their individuality and beauty are realized in a painting for a lasting moment bringing joy to anyone who looks at them.
