Modern Muses, original paintings by Kirsten Todd
Some women don't wait for permission. Modern Muses is a collection of portraits celebrating the ones who simply became themselves - loudly, quietly, however they needed to - and changed the way we see strength, beauty and self-expression in the process. From music icons to screen legends, each portrait holds onto something bigger than a likeness. It's the energy in the room when someone truly owns who they are, the kind of presence that lingers long after they've left it.
“My paintings are an invitation to see strength in softness, beauty in diversity, and unity in our shared journey.” – Kirsten Todd
Modern Muses, is a collection of contemporary acrylic portrait paintings by Lancashire-based artist Kirsten Todd, celebrating women who have shaped culture through music, film and self-expression. Each piece in this women's portrait art collection captures its subject mid-thought, mid-stare or mid-performance, built up through layers of acrylic and spray paint until the figure feels like it's emerging from the background rather than sitting on top of it.
These are bold, colourful statement paintings, the kind that suit a feature wall in a living room, hallway or home office and hold their own even in a busy space. If you're searching for original art that does more than match the sofa, this is a collection built around personality and presence rather than polish. Each portrait comes unframed on canvas, ready to be hung as the centrepiece it's meant to be.
Whether you're a longtime collector of contemporary portrait art or buying an original painting for the first time, Modern Muses is an easy collection to fall for. It's for anyone who's ever admired a woman for refusing to shrink herself to fit in.
About the artist
Kirsten Todd has been painting since she was a child, though it took a 30-year career in graphic design before she came fully back to her own artistic voice. Based in Lancashire, she's now an award-winning painter known for contemporary portraits that explore the human form, our connection to one another, and the quieter, harder-to-name things - energy, vibration, presence.
Working mainly in acrylics, Kirsten describes her process as a kind of moving meditation. She works instinctively, building up each portrait through spontaneous brushwork, palette knife marks and colour, letting the figure find its own shape rather than forcing it. You can often still see the abstract background peeking through the finished piece, a reminder that her subjects were never meant to exist in isolation.
Her work has picked up plenty of recognition along the way, including the British Art Prize Acrylic Award and the Galeria Moderna London Invitational Art Contest, plus a finalist spot in the Society of Women Artists Open. But talk to Kirsten and it's clear the accolades aren't really the point. What matters to her is painting women as they actually are: strong and soft, complicated and beautiful, entirely their own.
