Born in Portpatrick on the west coast of Scotland, Sheila studied at Glasgow School of Art, graduating with a Diploma of Art and Design in 1979.

Over more than three decades living and working in London, Sheila’s career evolved from textile design through illustration to full-time painting. Throughout, Sheila exhibited in group and solo exhibitions as well as undertaking commissions and residencies. Her work was regularly selected by the Society of Women Artists, Society of Botanical artists and the Society of Graphic Fine Art.

In 2014, she relocated to the Scottish Borders; this proved pivotal, shifting her focus from portraiture and urban subjects to a passionate commitment to conservation, her gaze focused on the intricate, living jigsaw of flora and fauna within her re-wilded garden and surrounding countryside.  These experiences and observations are distilled into densely layered paintings. Using sumi-e ink, watercolour and collage she builds intricate surfaces that echo the dense networks of hedgerow and meadow.

Her work has been selected annually by the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, and she was elected a full member in 2024.  Whilst her self-portrait ‘The Artist and her Muses’ was selected for inclusion in the Scottish Portrait Awards 2026 at the Royal Scottish Academy.