Rita Kirkman was born an artist, and has been using pastel since she was 11 years old. Her work is defined by light, color and composition, and since 2003 has consistently won major awards in national and international competitions. Her work has been featured in the Pastel Journal and the Pratique des Arts Spécial Pastel, and published in many others. She is a Signature member of the Pastel Society of America and an Eminent Pastelist with the International Association of Pastel Societies. In recent years she has become a popular workshop instructor.

"I’m blessed to be able to find beauty in almost everything I see. My work has evolved into an observation of sunlight and shadow, and recently I’ve been playing with more adventurous ways to portray light with color, value, and temperature. As Claude Monet said, ‘The subject matter, my dear good fellow, is the light.’”

Her work is in public and private collections all over the world, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, Africa and Australia.