Angie Shepherd has always had a real love of art. She can remember painting from an early age. Both her mother and grandmother were keen painters, musicians and amateur actresses and her father was, until retirement, a skilled draughtsman. Having so much creativity around her from an early age, it is hardly surprising that Angie has inherited these skills and a passion for painting.

At the age of 14 Angie took part in her first exhibition in her home town of Cheltenham. It was a successful starting point for her and she has displayed her work every summer since, in the towns Open Air Exhibition.

After leaving school, circumstances were not conducive to her going on to study Art at University, so she found a job, but carried on painting as a past time. And that continued until earlier this year. After working in many different roles, latterly as a Civil Servant, she decided that she should bite the bullet and leave the office job behind and become a full time artist. ‘I don’t want to get to my old age and look back wistfully, thinking – ‘I wish I had followed my heart’. I’ve come to realise that life is too short to waste it doing things you don’t enjoy. If you have a passion and you have the opportunity to live it, you should grab hold and not let go.’

Angie’s style of art has changed and morphed over the years, from pencil and pen drawings of wildlife, pen and wash portraiture, to acrylic landscapes and abstract. However about three years ago she started to draw and paint nudes, both traditional and erotic. Her subjects range from coy nudity to BDSM and fetish. Although her paintings are usually monochrome, she is now also experimenting with adding colour work to her portfolio. Angie knows she has now discovered her true style. ‘People tell me I have a real skill for capturing the texture and warmth of skin and the sensuality of the human form. Although I shrink away from praise, it is good to get approval from artists and clients alike. I think the secret is that when you really enjoy painting a specific subject you put more of yourself and more emotion into it.’

‘I love to try and create pieces that people can add their own narrative to. I like the idea that my paintings are a catalyst for people’s imagination and fantasy. Whilst there maybe a suggestion of a story, it is up to the viewer to decide on where it goes and how it ends.’

Angie enjoys bringing her subjects to life on canvas. ‘Seeing the initial sketches turn into images of beauty and desire is a process I never grow tired of. I think of it as capturing beauty – caging an angel. Creating something, seeing it finished and on display, is a very consuming yet satisfying process.’

‘I know it sounds very contrived, but, the aspect of selling a painting I love the most is the fact that someone has decided they gain so much enjoyment from your creation that they have chosen not only to spend money on it but to give it a place in their home. Although it is a purely aesthetic object, that has no practical function, they feel it is something they want to see again and again because it has communicated with something inside them, maybe even revealed an aspect of their character they never knew existed. But in any case, whether it’s appeal is as decoration or stimulant, sensuality or passion, it has touched something deeply personal to them, emotionally and physically. How fantastic is that!?’