Shelley Vanderbyl (b. 1985) is an expressive painter currently residing in Trenton, Ontario. She works both with paint and plaster in various combinations.  Her pieces beckon the viewer to an absorbing in-person experience - due to either their minuscule size, their surface texture, or the nature of their installation.

Through art-making, Shelley forges her experiences and memories into hope for the future; expressing the passage of time is a core part of her work. She labours over her plaster frescoes, layering repeatedly, burnishing matte surfaces, scraping and chipping away at them to reveal their underlying stories.  She is inspired by the plaster fragments she preserved from the walls of her recently-rebuilt centenary home, and by the similarly-fascinating wear and repair that she documented on frescoes in the Louvre.

Her work has been in group and solo exhibitions across Canada, and was recently featured in a solo show in Gstaad, Switzerland. Her Memory Tales paintings are currently being shown in rural communities around the province by the Manitoba Arts Network.  Shelley created a giant 75 x 5.5 foot mural installation, temporarily reimagining the Blankenstein Gallery of Winnipeg’s Millennium Library. In 2016, the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada honoured Vanderbyl by presenting one of her paintings to His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Her work is in corporate and private collections across Canada, Sweden, Austria, the UK, and Switzerland.

Shelley was an inaugural member of Ace Art’s Cartae open school; the program challenges traditional art school paradigms with an emphasis on self teaching and peer-to-peer learning.

Shelley has made numerous appearances on radio and television, and has been profiled in newspapers across Canada, Sweden and in Switzerland.

This is my life’s work: to heal, and to inspire.