Shirley Carnt (Deterding)

Shirley Carnt (Deterding) is really one of the most extraordinary countryside women of our time. Rather like Leonardo, in her chosen area there is little or nothing that she has not mastered. Her paintings reflect her passion for a beloved environment.

Shirley is an artist who breathes the hills, the waters and the woods and intimate knowledge shows through every brush stroke. Whether in America or Switzerland, Scotland or England, her reputation rises year by year amongst those who feel for the countryside. The late Hugh Falkus, the author and TV producer echoed the sentiments of thousands when he said “The brush strokes and brilliant tones beautifully evoke the atmosphere of marsh, sea and sky and present a new interpretation of these haunting landscapes.”

As a celebration of the Millennium, Shirley said she has tried to capture the spirit of our beautiful countryside as a record of how unspoilt it is now, and hopefully how it will remain for future generations.

Extensive travels during the last two years have taken her as far afield as Outer Mongolia, Alaska, Iceland and Russia; to the Americas North and South, to Sweden, Guatamala and, of course, Scotland. The joy of sitting quietly on a river bank, in the countryside, or by the sea, where the wildlife comes to investigate, a pair of wolves in Outer Mongolia; a squirrel in Norfolk; a kingfisher; a brood of newly hatched partridges; a little mouse and many other small creatures in various parts of the world that walk quietly by, going about their business. Shirley feels very privileged to share their habitat. Her sporting and wildlife interests have given her the chance to see and appreciate some of the wildest and most unspoilt parts of our precious environment which is so rapidly being turned into a concrete jungle.

Shirley’s painting round the world has given her the opportunity and reason to travel far and wide and paint in many different locations, but it is always East Anglia that draws her back to its magical light and special beauty.