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About Anna Shelvey
Biography
I started painting after deciding I needed a better habit than the ones I was leaving behind. I was looking for something creative to fill the space, but it quickly became much more than that.
A late ADHD diagnosis helped explain why. Painting is one of the few things that quiets my mind. I can lose hours building, scraping back and rebuilding layers, and somehow come away feeling calmer than when I started.
I’m inspired by places that stay with me long after I’ve left them. The Kent and Sussex coast, wide open skies and weathered buildings all find their way into my work. I’m not trying to paint an exact view. I’m more interested in capturing the atmosphere, the light and the feeling of being there.
I work intuitively with acrylics, letting each painting evolve as I go. Some end up looking nothing like where they started, which is probably fitting. More recently I’ve found myself drawn to weathered architecture and the marks left behind by time and the elements. I’m interested in what remains after the storm has passed, after the paint has peeled, the rust has settled and the crowds have gone. Whether it’s a stretch of coastline or an old building, I’m always trying to paint how a place feels rather than simply how it looks.
My work is exhibited across Kent in galleries, exhibitions and creative spaces. As my practice continues to grow, I'm fortunate to have opportunities to share my paintings with new audiences throughout the county.
Recent Exhibitions
Creative Maidstone (2026)In A Space Open Call Exhibition, Whitstable (2026)
Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
Bodies of Water, Square Gallery, Dover (until 8th August 2026)East Kent Art Society, Sandwich (August & November 2026)
The House, Ramsgate (Autumn 2026)
Gallery 37, Broadstairs (November 2026)
Jobmuscroft Gallery, Margate (May 2027)
There are several exciting exhibition opportunities currently in the works, and I'll be sharing more details soon.
I’m joining Artfinder because I like the idea of my paintings finding homes with people who connect with them. If one of my pieces makes someone stop for a moment, remember a place or simply enjoy looking at it every day, then I’ve done what I set out to do.
Biography
I started painting after deciding I needed a better habit than the ones I was leaving behind. I was looking for something creative to fill the space, but it quickly became much more than that.
A late ADHD diagnosis helped explain why. Painting is one of the few things that quiets my mind. I can lose hours building, scraping back and rebuilding layers, and somehow come away feeling calmer than when I started.
I’m inspired by places that stay with me long after I’ve left them. The Kent and Sussex coast, wide open skies and weathered buildings all find their way into my work. I’m not trying to paint an exact view. I’m more interested in capturing the atmosphere, the light and the feeling of being there.
I work intuitively with acrylics, letting each painting evolve as I go. Some end up looking nothing like where they started, which is probably fitting. More recently I’ve found myself drawn to weathered architecture and the marks left behind by time and the elements. I’m interested in what remains after the storm has passed, after the paint has peeled, the rust has settled and the crowds have gone. Whether it’s a stretch of coastline or an old building, I’m always trying to paint how a place feels rather than simply how it looks.
My work is exhibited across Kent in galleries, exhibitions and creative spaces. As my practice continues to grow, I'm fortunate to have opportunities to share my paintings with new audiences throughout the county.
Recent Exhibitions
Creative Maidstone (2026)In A Space Open Call Exhibition, Whitstable (2026)
Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
Bodies of Water, Square Gallery, Dover (until 8th August 2026)East Kent Art Society, Sandwich (August & November 2026)
The House, Ramsgate (Autumn 2026)
Gallery 37, Broadstairs (November 2026)
Jobmuscroft Gallery, Margate (May 2027)
There are several exciting exhibition opportunities currently in the works, and I'll be sharing more details soon.
I’m joining Artfinder because I like the idea of my paintings finding homes with people who connect with them. If one of my pieces makes someone stop for a moment, remember a place or simply enjoy looking at it every day, then I’ve done what I set out to do.
Upcoming events
- Event:
- TBC
- Dates:
- 26 Nov 2026 - 27 Nov 2026
- Venue:
- Deal Castle, Deal
- **Anna Shelvey — Artist Collection** Anna Shelvey is a contemporary abstract artist based in Ramsgate, Kent. Working primarily in acrylic, her paintings are inspired by the coast, changing light, landscape and the traces that places leave behind. Her work moves between recognisable fragments of the East Kent landscape and more intuitive, abstracted compositions. Layers of colour, texture and mark-making are built up and disrupted to create paintings that are less about depicting a specific place and more about capturing its atmosphere, energy and emotional pull. This collection brings together a selection of Shelvey’s recent work, reflecting her evolving approach to the Kent coastline and the landscapes that surround it.
- Event:
- Thanet in Reflection
- Dates:
- 1 Nov 2026 - 30 Nov 2026
- Venue:
- Gallery37, Broadstairs, Kent
- **Thanet in Reflection** *Thanet in Reflection* is a series of abstract paintings inspired by the changing light, architecture and coastal landscape of East Kent. Drawing on places including Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Pegwell, the works explore how familiar landscapes are experienced and remembered rather than simply reproduced. Through layered colour, texture and fragmented forms, the series captures something of Thanet’s shifting atmosphere, its coastline, horizons, buildings and changing light, creating impressions of place that sit somewhere between memory and reality.
Events
Upcoming events
- Event:
- TBC
- Dates:
- 26 Nov 2026 - 27 Nov 2026
- Venue:
- Deal Castle, Deal
- **Anna Shelvey — Artist Collection** Anna Shelvey is a contemporary abstract artist based in Ramsgate, Kent. Working primarily in acrylic, her paintings are inspired by the coast, changing light, landscape and the traces that places leave behind. Her work moves between recognisable fragments of the East Kent landscape and more intuitive, abstracted compositions. Layers of colour, texture and mark-making are built up and disrupted to create paintings that are less about depicting a specific place and more about capturing its atmosphere, energy and emotional pull. This collection brings together a selection of Shelvey’s recent work, reflecting her evolving approach to the Kent coastline and the landscapes that surround it.
- Event:
- Thanet in Reflection
- Dates:
- 1 Nov 2026 - 30 Nov 2026
- Venue:
- Gallery37, Broadstairs, Kent
- **Thanet in Reflection** *Thanet in Reflection* is a series of abstract paintings inspired by the changing light, architecture and coastal landscape of East Kent. Drawing on places including Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Pegwell, the works explore how familiar landscapes are experienced and remembered rather than simply reproduced. Through layered colour, texture and fragmented forms, the series captures something of Thanet’s shifting atmosphere, its coastline, horizons, buildings and changing light, creating impressions of place that sit somewhere between memory and reality.