Shelagh was born and spent her youger years in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). This is where she developed a love of rural farm life and open landscapes.

She was educated at Kingsmead College, Johannesburg and received an art distinction at Arundel School, Salisbury. She studied at Natal Art School, Durban for three years, graduating in 1964.

Shelagh worked as a designer in Harare for a year, London for two years and Johannesburg for ten. She has travelled extensively to Europe, New York and several painting trips to Israel.

She began painting watercolour landscapes professionally in 1980. In 1989 her family relocated to Cape Town.

Shelagh has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in the main centres of South Africa. Her paintings have been reproduced for calendars, cards, magazines and her prints have been distributed both nationally and internationally. She is listed in the Everard Read Gallery manual of top South African artists. Her works are displayed by galleries in Cape Town, Plettenberg Bay, Umhlanga and Johannesburg. Numerous corporations including First National Bank, SA Breweries, Coca Cola and Pimlico Holdings have aquired her paintings for their boardrooms.

She specializes in Karoo landscapes where she spends much time. She works in acrylic and mixed media to achieve the realism of the African light and atmosphere in the simplistic tranquility of rural South African scenes.