August Artist Spotlight – Meet Sheila Quinn

Sheila Quinn is a painter working primarily in acrylics. She is especially drawn to large-scale paintings, finding bigger canvases both freeing and energizing. Born and raised in Massachusetts, she eventually made Franklin her home. Sheila has loved making art for as long as she can remember. She earned degrees in both Early Childhood Education and Fine Arts, beginning her career as a kindergarten teacher. While doing so, she painted murals on the side.

 

When she became the mother of five, her creative life naturally took a back seat while raising her family. As her children grew older, she found her way back to painting. For the past seven years, she has been taking classes at the Danforth where she has discovered a wonderful and supportive art community. One of the highlights of her art journey was being selected to exhibit in the Danforth’s annual juried summer show- an honor to be recognized from a very large pool of submissions.  She has since built a studio in her home where she spends much of her time painting. 

 

Sheila is drawn to people, especially children, in her paintings. She loves color and as mentioned before, large canvases and subject matter. She hopes her paintings make the viewer feel something about the person, and think deeper about the moment she captured.  She recently discovered an old photo from 1920 of her great grandfather posing in his shop in Brighton. She transformed the old black and white into a colorful rendition, imagining what it may have felt like stepping into that shop over a century ago. The project took on a life of its own, including digging deeper into family history-specifically her great grandfather’s life, and even a visit to the original site of the shop. Even though she was never able to meet her great grandfather, she truly feels like she got to know him through this painting. Always interested in antiques and vintage, this has opened a new avenue in her work while reinforcing her belief that every face and object has a story waiting to be told.

 

One of the most meaningful parts of Sheila’s artistic life is teaching at the Michael Lisnow Respite Center in Hopkinton, MA.  She works with adults with disabilities, helping them to discover and express their creativity. This experience is just as rewarding as creating her own work. The environment is pure joy and certainly inspires Sheila in all aspects of life. She teaches classes at the center, holds art shows throughout the year, and brings artists out into the community for various experiences including classes at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts. Some of Sheila’s greatest teachers are her students at the Respite Center.  Their uninhibited joy, willingness to experiment, and complete lack of fear about “perfection” have taught her to just enjoy and trust the process. Truly a blessing that is hard to find in many artists. 

 

Sheila continues to grow on her artistic journey. She feels fortunate to have this part of her life that is entirely her own, outside of the chaos and business life can sometimes bring. Art is a peaceful refuge- a place to slow down, reflect, and simply create.  The community of artists who encourage, challenge, and inspire one another is a gift she treasures.