Shelley Grund

Award winning artist, Shelley Grund, had a late beginning to her art career. Although she took the occasional art class in secondary school it wasn’t until after she had graduated with a BA in Education and had two children that she finally followed her artistic muse. In the 1980’s and ‘90’s she took a couple of adult studio classes in oil painting and spent hours in libraries in a self-guided study of art history, technique, and theory. She set up a small studio space in the corner of her dining room where she painted landscapes, wildlife, and portraits from photographs, completing works for family and friends, and several commissions. In 2001 Shelley started a mural company creating artwork inside and out on clients’ walls, ceilings and floors in acrylic paint. She gained a reputation for her life-like, colorful renderings, often exceeding the customer’s expectations. It was during this time she began exploring the “en plein air” genre of painting, taking her oil paints out into the “field” and attempting to capture as much of nature’s tones, colors and complexity as she possibly could. Shelley believes an artist must work from life as much as possible: “The human eye can see much more than a photograph giving the artist more to work with.” Shelley Grund specializes in realism. Her paintings show a mastery of fundamental skills and sensitivity to color and edges. Her portraits capture not just the likeness but also the spirit of the subject. Her landscapes are filled with color and atmosphere. Ms. Grund’s work is in private collections throughout the United States.