Shelley was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario and now resides in  Richmond, B.C.  She began formal studies in art in 1989 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Fine Art in 1995 majoring in painting. She continued her art education in 1997 upon entering Graduate School at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and completed her formal studies with a Master of Fine Art degree in painting in 2000.

She has had multiple solo, juried and group exhibitions nation wide, most noted being a juried exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto in 1996, a solo exhibition at the Nickel Museum in Calgary in 2000 and an invitational exhibition  in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2014.  Her work is represented in the West Vancouver District Art Collection, University of Alberta Master of Fine Art Collection and The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Collection.  And, in private regional, national and international collections.  Shelley’s work has also been featured in Artists Talk Magazine and Wotisart out of the United Kingdom and Art Reveal Magazine in Finland. 

Her professional experience includes teaching, giving lectures and doing demonstrations and workshops.  She is a court room artist and she has served on art gallery committee board of directors and as a jury member.  She has co-founded and organized an annual art collective event, and exhibition design for various galleries.

Shelley has been awarded the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Graduate Scholarship Award, The Mary Louis Imrie Graduate Student Award, three Lakehead University Juried Exhibition Awards and several provincial Exhibition Assistance Grants.