Selected Best Artist of the Year 1981 and 1984 by Nepal Association of Fine Arts, she has also been awarded by Royal Nepal Academy for poetic excellence and by Rastriya Srijanatmak Pariwar for her contribution to the arts.

She was born in 1950 to a family of seven children. Her father made sure that she received a grounding in the arts early on. She identifies nature as a major source of inspiration. She says she finds a lot of spiritual strength from looking at the hills, flowers, and mountains. She has a bachelor's degree in fine arts from India as well as a degree in the arts from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She also has a diploma in the French language.

Besides painting and poetry, Shashi Kala Tiwari has supported Sangeeta Thapa in establishing Siddhartha Art Gallery. The gallery has played a key role in promoting and selling the works of artists of Nepal.

In terms of paintings, Shashi Kala's images of rivers, flowers, and women are especially powerful. She began working on her series of flowers after an accident. Five years ago, while she was taking a walk, she fell and hurt herself. As she lay in pain, many people passed by and did not offer help.

After almost an hour, a farmer asked her what the matter was and helped her get a taxi. After this incident, she felt concerned about the path that the human race is taking. She had fractured her leg and as she was recovering she painted birght and powerful flowers, beautiful and touching, to reach out to the goodness of the human being.