About the Artist
Mom, quilter, and painter since age of 3 finds beauty in ordinary life
Houston-based Impressionist
As a young girl in San Antonio, Texas, Shirley remembers watching her grandmother, a Polish émigré who settled in Mexico, draw meticulous images of dress patterns she had only seen once and replicate them for her daughters and granddaughters and would embroider images of colorful birds from her imagination.
Infused with the same creative spirit, Shirley took her first painting lessons from Jacqui Von Honts, whose murals were displayed at Hemisphere in 1968. Shirley would later paint her own murals in Houston for her children and in others' homes by commission.
Over the years, she has painted in watercolor, acrylic and oils. Oil painting is her main medium of choice for now. "I love the richness of the paints and being able to meld colors together. There is so much freedom when painting with oils." Her subjects range from Texas country landscapes and the streets of India to pet portraits and animals on the African safari, to name a few. Shirley paints from her own photographs taken on her travels and close to home and also from still lifes. You will find a variety of subject matter from florals, people, and anything else that catches her eye.These days she paints in her light filled studio at The Silos #106 in Sawyer Yards.
Shirley also, inheriting her grandmother's love of fabrics and sewing, creates colorful fabric pet portraits, heirloom quilts, challah covers, and abstracts from her home sewing studio.
Growing up in San Antonio, Shirley studied from a young age at the McNay Art Institute, the first modern art museum in Texas. Shirley joined the Watercolor Art Society of Houston in 1995, the same year she was juried into her first WASH show. Shirley has studied with many teachers in a wide variety of painting styles: water color from Michael Collins; oil from Bruce Williamson, Steve Parker, Robert More, and LaNell Arndt, Quong Ho, Bill Kalwick , Max Ginsberg, Henry Finkelstein (Art Students League of New York), Derek Penix and years of learning with Silvia Trybek. She has had her art juried into a few citywide shows at Sawyer Yards over the last few years in addition to the shows listed below.
Shirley co-chairs The Margolis Gallery at Congregation Beth Israel and is a judge on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Committee. She was a member of the Houston Area Fiber Artists, HAFA and Studio Art Quilters' Association, SAQA. She has been an Artist in Residence at Greene Family Camp and is a former member of the Houston Civic Arts Association (HCAA).
She has three grown children and a precious grandbaby. Shirley lives in Houston with her husband and her little dog, Mensch.
Awards and Shows
April 2025 - Solo Show at The Silos in Sawyer Yards
Jun 2017 – Gallery Prudencia; San Antonio, TX (Represented Artist)
Jul 2015 – Allart Framing and Gallery; Houston, TX (Represented Artist)
May 2012 – Pam's Kitchen; San Antonio, TX (Solo Show)
Mar 2011 – HCAA Juried Art Show, Jack Meier Gallery; Houston, TX
Nov 2010 – Victor's Fine Arts; Houston, TX (Featured Artist)
Oct 2010 – HCAA (Second Place and Honorable Mention, Semi Professional Division)
Dec 2009 – Artists Alliance of Sugarland; Sugarland, TX
Oct 2009 – Northwest Art League Fall Show; Houston, TX (Best Landscape and First Honorable Mention, Semi-Professional Division)
Mar 2009 – HCAA Juried Art Show, Jack Meier Gallery; Houston, TX
Mar 2008 – HCAA Fall Show (2nd Place, 3rd Place, and Honorable Mention, Non-Professional Division)
Apr 2003 – Beth Israel Jurried Art Show, The Margolis Gallery, Congregation Beth Israel; Houston, Texas
