About the Artist

Hand making felt is a deeply satisfying experience for
me. The design process is a delightful hands-on sensual
playtime. 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.