"Kirsten Dear is Norwegian and divides her time between Barbados, Norway and the U.K (where she has a daughter and two grandsons).  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 since childhood - her mother is an artist.

She works in oil on canvas or linen.  Her work has been sold in Barbados and abroad, through local galleries, the artist's website and word of mouth commissions.  Her work is on walls in Barbados, Norway, Canada, England, Portugal, Columbia and the United States.  She has won the annual (Barbados) Carmichael 'Critics Prize for best painting by an established artist' three times,  for 'Carlisle Bay August' (2012) 'Before Opening at the Birds Nest' (2013) and 'Morning Light Careenage' (2019).  She has been featured on the cover and in the portfolio section of  Rumporter Magazine, published for the International Rum Festival in Paris, and in Hyperallergic Magazine in A View from the Easel.

 

 

Many of her paintings are seascapes,  and she is interested in the difference in light and colour between the Caribbean and Norway.   She paints daily life, like fishermen and fruit-sellers and has a special interest in period architecture and interiors, being married to an architect.  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)". 

​