Trust Print

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 explores how people impact each other and invites people to recognise their own true value. The legacy of her days working in chalk pastels can still be seen in her treatment of the paint, where she creates smooth blends of colour. And the 3D forms that she learned to create whilst she worked on portraits are also apparent even if they have a looser structure now. She has her own website where this collection can be viewed. She is inspired by nature, having spent a lot of time hiking in Scotland and Scottish plants and wildlife often form part of her work, depicting the delicate nature of people but also their value and worth. She is also inspired by human connection and how people are impacted by how others treat them, represented by hands in her work. Scotland also imbues her art with a sense of mysticism, as she has grown up with tales of the misty glens and magical lochs of Scotland's folklore. For her the land has a spirit and nature is very much alive and this is why she found the idea of using nature in her work magical. And how nature can stand in for people in her work; because people are magical too. For much of her life she has felt like an outsider, like she doesn't quite belong.