“ Varied Thrush Offering ” opportunities it opened , to branch out and define herself and her art in a new way . “ I did enamel exclusively for a while , but I started to miss the immediacy of painting ( enameling is a slow and labor-intensive process for me ). A few years ago , I decided to create a cohesive body of work across both mediums , tying the room together ( so to speak ) by sticking to a single subject — birds and their environments .” Their dynamic personalities , beautiful habitats , and Sheila ’ s own strong personal connection make them the perfect cornerstone of her work . Now her artistic work fits hand in hand with her hobby of birding .
“ As for what got me started with birds , I like to explain with this incident .
“ My mom , who we lost to a stroke three years ago , absolutely loved birds . She had dozens of bird books and a habit of writing sticky notes to herself about anything and everything . In April of 2020 , my partner and I went on our first official birding trip to Turnbull . We saw a few new-to-us species , but the one that most captivated me was a Varied Thrush . I had never heard of it but looked it up on the spot using a vague description and a Google search . On the way home , we picked up mom ’ s books from dad , and while I was cooking dinner , he opened one of them . A single sticky note fell from between the pages and landed on the floor . It had two words written on it in my mom ’ s hand : ‘ Varied Thrush .’”
Enamels short process
My enameled pieces are inspired by photos taken on birding trips , often combined with ideas sparked by found objects that I incorporate into various works . I make kiln-fired vitreous enamel pieces with multiple layers of liquid enamel , applied using a mix of airbrush , dip pen , and sgraffito techniques . Each layer of color gets fired separately , with each individual piece of metal being fired anywhere from five to fifteen times . Flat work is created on 14-gauge low-carbon steel I prepare with ground coat . I hand-cut and hand-hammer my bowls and other copper objects from flat sheets of 18- or 20-gauge copper before adding enamel . The suspension pieces are typically made from salvaged copper pipe , found objects , and salvaged ipe wood .
Sheila got into birding during the pandemic , and a lot of things about it just clicked . What began as an outlet to get out of the house and feel connected to her mother , evolved into something of a lifestyle . Sheila is a nature lover , and the excitement of the search has become part of her painting inspiration . “ I felt like this was what I was supposed to be doing because it felt like this huge connection with my mom . She never went birding , I don ’ t think , but she had all these notes . I was looking through them trying to get a feel for her life .” Now , spending much of her time going out to find her subjects and taking her own reference photos , she ’ s more inspired than ever .
Painting , photography , and birding all build on each other , inspiration drives finding and learning about new birds , and birding builds a background of knowledge that adds to the life and personality of the subjects as they are recreated on canvas . Birding and photography are as integral to Sheila ’ s
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