Kirsty Semple

Kirsty Semple always had the desire to make art but she decided to study biology and then english literature. However the desire to be an artist never left her so after finishing education she decided to teach herself how to draw and paint.
She started this journey by drawing musicians with chalk pastels. Inspired by musicians like Tori Amos and David Bowie because of the passion they showed for their art. Her drawings featured a range of instruments from violins and saxophones to pianos and were expressive; with a lot of movement and colour but few details. She put these up for sale on eBay and quickly sold them them all. This gave her the confidence she needed to push forward with her art and so she purchased a set of acrylic paints.
This time she jumped in at the deep end and started creating portraits, which at first she was not skilled enough to do well. However, portraiture was just the training ground she needed to improve her skills due to the high level of accuracy this genre demands. And it ultimately led to her work being published in the Portraits for NHS Heroes book produced by Bloomsbury.
After this she moved away from portraiture to create her first collection in her own style: the Kindness collection, which ex...

Kirsty is a self taught artist who is inspired by the American realist painters such as Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer who paid homage to normal life. As well as the German expressionist painters for their use of colour to depict emotion. Her favourite painting is The Undertow, by Winslow Homer for it's depiction of how people need to support each other in an otherwise anchor-less life.
Kirsty is currently working on her second collection: the Love and Trust collection which continues to explore themes of belonging, connection and worth. And she is a paid member of the United Artspace: an art community which educates supports artists, helping them to make art they love and live a life of passion and purpose.