About the Artist

Hand making felt is a deeply satisfying
experience for me. The design process is
hands-on, sensual and creative. I pull out my
dozens of coloured wools and spun yarns,
silks, leaf skeletons, barks, and seaweed and
layer, arrange, fiddle and paint with them
until I am satisfied with the look. I use
lovely smelling soapy solutions to wet the
designs then begin the process of rolling my
creations on the table in backyard in all but
the coldest weather. In the end, I am
rewarded with an undisciplined, textured,
soft, colorful felt. The magic of wet felting
is that all the design is bonded together as
the textile is created.

I strive to capture the beauty of nature and
landscape in the textural complexity and
layering of complementary colours. I draw my
inspiration from my geographic and ecological
research and travel in Africa, the Caribbean
and Canada. I aim to capture the view you
might see from airplanes and satellites, or if
you floated a metre over the surface of the
sea, or if you took a slice through the ocean
or looked up at a hill or the sky.

My early felt works were inspired by my love
of trees. I thought about trees rooted in
the same place for decades suffering the
indignities of pollution and chainsaws. So I
gave them legs and voices to discuss their
environment and their feelings, to protest
and run from a bad habitat - hence name of
my web site Trees for Justice.

My newer works are smaller vignettes - some
abstracts, some landscapes. I have a series
on cowboy country and prairie reminiscent of
the Alberta hills where I grew up. Others
are brilliant shades of blue for the ocean and
the sky.

Lately I have been experimenting with ways
to layer in small knitted and woven pieces
made by my talented mother. I love the hint
of texture and structure the knitting brings
as well as opportunity to collaborate with my
mother.

One day I will combine my environmental
themes with technology to create a truly
connected felt.

The wall hangings have been shown at several
galleries and establishments in the Toronto
area, and have been sold to raise funds for
breast cancer research and HIV/AIDS not
for profit organizations. Sheila exhibits
twice yearly with the Beach Studio Tour
where she is the current Chair and is also a
regular contributor to the Shadowbox
auction for the Textile Museum of Canada .
She is an artist with Norman Felix Gallery
in Toronto and a member of ArtistsNetwork
of Riverdale.