Interview with Artist….Sheila Arthurs

As much as I love to blog and frequent my own blog to see how my latest color-sketch dimensions are really playing out on a piece….I’ve become quite sick of me!!

To infuse this blog with some entertainment and creativity I’ve asked 5 artists from varying backgrounds to be interviewed throughout this month. I’m very excited about their work and their agreeing to be put on the spot here.



Today I’d like you to meet another Flickr friend, Sheila (who lives in the UK).  I spotted her work in a doodling group on Flickr.  Sheila not only can doodle with world class flair, she incorporates actual figures into her doodles.  I would spot animals, fish, people in many of her doodles.  It was a bit like a seek-n-find!  Absolutely aMaZiNg!!



1. What word best describes your art/style?
These days I think of myself as a mixed media artist but at heart I am a doodling illustrator, dabbling in everything from stitching to paper sculpture.



2. What advice/quote do you respond best to?
There are two quotes which constantly pop into my head, one is by Henry Ford who said “if you think you can, or think you can’t, you are probably right!” and as I am Queen of the Procrastinators the one I have to say to myself every day is “if not now, when?” especially as I realize the years remaining are not limitless and I want to try everything.



3. How has your work evolved?
I began work in the 1940’s as a commercial artist now more grandly called “graphic designer” and it has been my joy and frustration to live through so many changes – “From ‘Letraset’ to Photoshop” could be the title of my memoirs! I have designed packaging, games for Chad Valley Toys, picnic ware and toffee tins to name just a few and then I retired and discovered a whole new world of fabric, collage, beading, felting and the freedom to explore them all via the internet.

Doodling has become an obsession, from simple shapes to imaginary landscapes and to designing my own doodled font, which has probably been the most fun of all.



4. What interests do you have other than "art"?
Over the years I have been involved with volunteering locally and am a Trustee of several local Charities, one of which is Active Arts Castle Vale a group dedicated to raising aspirations through involvement in art. This year to coincide with the London Olympics, there was a local Cultural Games week and as part of the art exhibition I enrolled local women to crochet or knit a Rainbow Reef. The response was overwhelming, we ended up with nearly a thousand pieces and no two were identical.

I am a voracious reader and collector of art/craft books and never come home from an exhibition without bags stuffed full of new gadgets because it’s not as if my house is not already overflowing with stuff I am going to use next week to try a new ‘direction’!



5. What is your favorite blog post or piece of art that you'd like to share?
Probably my favorite piece is the animated video that my daughter in the Netherlands made using my doodled alphabet. It was her first attempt at animation and I think she made a great fun video. It is on my blog, posted on Sunday 5 Feb 2012



Isn’t Sheila just fun?  Wouldn’t you want to see how she decorates?



To do this kind of work…..with needle, thread and beads on fabric….stitching & stitching & stitching…. takes an extraordinary amount of patience.  What beautiful creations she has made with fabric!



Thank you Sheila for taking the time to answer my questions and to share all your Beautiful…Creative…Versatile Artwork.

Please check out the links below which will lead you to more of Sheila’s work.
Blog: http://2smart-clothencounters.blogspot.co.uk
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostinstuff/