Shirley was born in India, in the capital city of New Delhi in the year 1962. Art came naturally to her as she was fortunate to be living with another artist in the form of her mother. Spending most of her time in a busy metro where the beauty of nature was scarce, the artist in her started by sketching Bollywood actors. Putting brush to canvas and drenching it in a myriad of vivid colours, she blew fairy dust into them. It was in college in Dalhousie, however, where she spend three years on the foothills of the Himalayas, that the painter's soul brimmed with zest when she found inspiration and true guidance in her French art teacher who made her reproduce images from a calendar of Europe.

After getting married in the year 1983 and having three beautiful and equally talented daughters soon after, Shirley had enough on her plate. For 30 long years the artist in her went into hibernation, until she was drawn to the sight of similar images that moved her, this time in person. It was in April of 2017 that she and her husband visited Holland for the Tulip festival when she hesitantly put brush to canvas and was able to recreate the same magic.

Living in Saarland’s small town of Riegelsberg, Shirley spends a good deal of her time outdoors, trying to soak herself in the sounds of nature. The rustling of the leaves, the gurgling of the nearby brook and the newly blooming flowers she infinitely fuses in bright neon pigments that only the mind of an Indian artist can imagine.