ABBEY ART

Kirsten Dear is Norwegian and spends her time in Barbados, Norway and England.  She holds a Minor Honors Degree in Art from University of Montana, USA.  (Her Major Degree is in Civil Economics).  She has been drawing and painting as a hobby since childhood - her mother is an artist.

She took up her paintbrush in earnest in autumn of 2010 when she started exhibiting at the Tides Art Gallery in Barbados. She works in oil on canvas or linen.  Her work has been sold in Barbados, Norway and abroad, through local galleries, the artist's website and word of mouth commissions.  She won the annual Carmichael 'Critics Prize for best painting by an established artist' twice,  for 'Carlisle Bay August' and again for 'Before Opening at the Birds Nest' .  In 2016 she was featured on the cover and in the portfolio section of  Rumporter Magazine, published for the International Rum Festival in Paris.

Many of her paintings are seascapes,  and she is interested in the difference in light and colour between Norway and the Caribbean.  She paints daily life, like fishermen and fruitsellers and has a special interest in period architecture and interiors, being married to an architect.  Recently she has carried out several portrait commissions including Sir Trevor Carmichael, the Irish author Maeve Binchy and the architect Larry Warren (this portrait is on display at St. Nicholas Abbey, Barbados). Learn more about Kirsten Dear's artwork at:  www.kirstendear.com.