About Shirley

Shirley the Professional Illustrator

Shirley has been a freelance illustrator, working since 1997 for several major Taiwanese and Chinese publishers. Her work has been included in nationally distributed Taiwanese newspapers and magazines as well as books with topics ranging from Childrens stories, self help series, finance, business, literature, and Buddhist philosophies.

Shirley has also taught English (she is CELTA qualified), using these skills to illustrate several English Language teaching books and Chinese translations of several famous Western book covers, such as "The English : A Portrait of a People", "Freak the Mighty", and "Google Eyes". Shirley is now continuing her career in the European market, which will hopefully see her work being accepted in a much larger, cross-cultural arena.

As for educational qualifications, in 1997 Shirley graduated from Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan with a BA in Fine Art, going on to obtain an MA in Illustration from the University of Central England, Birmingham, UK in 2000. Her work has been selected in Student Design Year Book 2000, Image26/The Best of British contemporary illustration 2000, and Calendar 365.

Early Beginnings

Shirley was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1974 and has been working as a freelance illustrator since 1997, however she has been putting pencil, pen, and brush to paper since the age of two.

Even at this early age Shirley was expressing her imagination through art, drawing everywhere from the walls, the furniture, her clothes, and even the bottom of her sister's feet!

Shirley is not the only person in her family with a flair for art and design; her father is an architect and her mother an Interior Designer. To encourage her artistic development, they would bring her notebooks and paper in a variety of mediums.

Because of the nature of their work, her parents always had lots of paper in their office which they were always happy to share. Though they would most likely say this was not so much due to artistic encouragement but more to keep an excessively creative child from crying all day!

Even her illiterate grandmother was forced to show her how to draw chickens to keep Shirley quiet.

Animal Lover

Shirley adores animals, especially dogs. You can find them in most of her drawings, especially a little white dog, who goes by the name of Doggie Chiang. Shirley did not have many friends when she was a teenager, but the real Doggie Chiang was always by her side.

Shirley was into heavy metal and used to sing to the dog on the roof garden and like a loyal friend, he never once complained! Doggie Chiang was very stubborn though; he wouldn't do any tricks and wouldn't hang out with any other dogs. All he needed was Shirley and he was happy. Despite his stubbornness he was certainly a dog with character who loved being cleaned and groomed.

Sadly, Doggie Chiang died in 2002, but Shirley has always drawn him in a lot of illustrations to remember this very special friend.

Inspiration

Shirley loves to draw happy pictures with bright colours, but she also enjoys sketching and doodling whenever she gets the chance. She always carries a pen with her for when the occasion requires a quick sketch (her work can even be found on restaurant napkins and placemats!). Oddly though, even when she is sad she can still produce the happiest of images!