Our final cARTridges exhibition of 2024 celebrates the work of local artist Victoria Kirtley.
Born in Torbay and now living in Exeter, Victoria has lived in the West Country for most of her life. She studied art until the age of 19 before embarking on a design-based course at university. After a 20 year career in a corporate environment, and once her children were old enough to attend school, Victoria began to paint full-time.
Victoria predominantly works with acrylics and mixed media, but a distinctive element that runs through most of her art is gold, silver and copper gilding, either as a minimalistic, representational image, or in the background, to add depth, colour and texture. Her works often include clear brush marks, pallet knife work, flicks of paint and details in oil pastels to bring a sense of originality, movement and fluidity.
Influenced by nature
Like many of our cARTridges artists, Victoria’s experience of living in the West Country, close to nature, influences the themes and colours of her work.
“Having spent much of my childhood on the beach, walking on Dartmoor and visiting the Cotswolds, my current work is influenced by the subject and colours that I see, know and love. My current work therefore has a ‘coast & countryside’ theme, but with a bias towards wildlife and nature.”
While her pieces often carry a narrative, Victoria’s art is fundamentally driven by her desire to evoke the peace and tranquillity of the outdoors within indoor spaces.
“If I manage to evoke a positive emotion, memory, sentiment or mood through my art, then I have achieved what I set-out to do”.
Love Victoria’s work as much as we do?
Victoria’s work is available to purchase and there is a discount for any artwork sales made via Cartridges Law (collection only). 10% of any artwork sales from the cARTridges exhibition will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, a charity close to Victoria’s heart.
Victoria will be releasing a series of 2-3 collections per year – for more information or to sign up to Victoria’s ‘Collectors Club’ to gain first access to new work, please visit victoriakirtleyart.co.uk. Victoria is also available for commissions and would love to discuss your ideas and help to bring these to life.
How to take part in our Local Art Scheme
You can find out more about cARTridges, our local art exhibition scheme, here.
If you’re interested in exhibiting your work with us, please get in touch with:
- Your name, email, telephone number and address
- A digital sample of your artwork or a link to your social media so we can get a feel for your style
- Your social media handles (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn)
Please send the above information via email to: hannah.mooney@cartridgeslaw.co.uk