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/

Still at it….

I’m about half-way thru with set 4 of the Doodle Directory….it’s getting a little complicated, because I don’t want to repeat any previous patterns…..it is amazing how just one or two different line additions can change the whole look of a pattern. 



When doodle directory inspiration is asleep.  I'll work on my alphabet.



My absolute favorite part of doodling is when it’s in this stage…..roughed in….not colored in all the way.  It’s here that I have to force myself to not just grab my favorite colors to work with…and try to work with other color combos…and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised!  



Since the Sharpies and the Bic’s are all waterproof and permanent….I thought it would be fun to actually draw on cotton…..Have to use my widest nib markers here because that cotton is real thirsty. 



This is very s.l.o.w……going…..That cotton likes to wiggle as I apply the ink…Ugh!!  Possibly I just need to actually use “fabric-friendly” markers…..but I don’t want that pudgy stuff or shiny ink.  I do like the way this looks once dried.

For some further encouragement to “try this at home”, you’ve got to check out this lady- Alisa Burke and see what she does with fabric design.  I think I found who I want to be when I grow up! LOL!

Have you tried decorating clothes?  What’s your experience?  Is there a good brand of fabric markers that I should consider?  …..do tell…… :)

Studio/ Guest Room

I am so excited!! I have company coming in on Thursday and they are staying in the Studio! It’s the 2nd biggest bedroom and they won’t be as crowded as they would be if they stayed in the room that we usually reserved for guests. Granted this room doesn’t have a TV, so the other room is better for TV viewing.

This room is over the garage, hence the funky ceiling. It also gets extremely cold in the winter and hot in the summer. As you’ll see the A/C unit in the window and the space heater on the table.

Inspiration Board is a work in progress. And a wonderful place to put things I don’t want to lose. No, that’s not my guitar or keyboard. My son has taken a real interest in music over the last few years and this is his first guitar. I’m pretty musically inept, but love to belt out a Song or two as I sing along with my mp3 player. (much to my family’s chagrin….geez I really don’t get that)

My modest fabric Stash! You really ought to see my mother in laws!!! M.A.G.N.I.F.I.C.E.N.T., to say the least!

To the right of the dresser is my Current project. I’ll be appliquéing the flower petals and leaves to a tan pieced background. More later when I finish.

Some of my absolute favorite pictures of Family. The wonders of digital and scanning in old pics lets me have brand new pictures for just 19 cents from Walgreens. (If I really had my act together, I’d upload about 50 favorites and have snapfish print them for just 9 cents a piece.)……But that’s if I had my act together!!

I have had this rack for about 5 years. I had bought two at the time for only about 6 bucks each. I hung the first one right away in my bathroom. I have almost given this one to Goodwill about 3 times, but something inside said, “Wait, you may wish you had it someday”. And now, It’s someday....It’s a perfect spot for those dropper paints I told you about in this post.

I covered one of those big body length pillows about ten years ago with that striped fabric you see on the closer bed. Then my dear grandmother gave me a quilt she no longer uses that she had embroidered herself! I use what I love and I love this, however, so did the dog and the kids, so now there are tears to more than a few stitches and ink marks! Ah, well…..what can I say?? I’m so happy with those Deka Curtain wires from Ikea. I can now put all kinds of fun stuff up. And Look, that same dog has made her way into the picture. Good thing she’s on the floor, huh?

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share with you! Posting this here really helped motivate me to get this done! Pictures are clickable (become larger upon clicking them), if you want a better look. - Eden