Introducing Panache collaborator/artist Ian Sheldon

Panache collaborator and artist Ian Sheldon

The artist. Photography by Darren Greenwood www.dgphotographics.com

Ian Sheldon is a celebrated artist and illustrator, with galleries in England, the United States and Canada, and dozens of books featuring his work. Very much a citizen of the world, Sheldon has lived in South Africa, Singapore and England. He makes his home in Canada where his reputation as a successful Western artist continues to grow. Drawing on inspirations from his place of birth on the edge of the prairies in Canada in 1971, and his time spent in Europe, his paintings are a celebration of his sense of place and spirituality.

While studying for his first degree (BA Hons) at Cambridge University, England, Sheldon began to paint the historical architecture of the city. Since 1994 galleries have exhibited this work, and in 1998, Cambridge Contemporary Art, the city’s leading commercial gallery, accepted his watercolours. He makes frequent trips to Britain and France to pursue his architectural passion.

September Field Colours 24x24

Autumn Square 24x24

Harvest Square 24x24

A self-taught artist, Sheldon believes that his true understanding of artistic self-expression will come best through his own experimentation. Sheldon holds degrees from Cambridge University and the University of Alberta. His studies in the natural sciences are reflected in some of his subject choices, but the learning experience has more importantly taught him about the significant influences in his life. In addition to thearchitectural watercolours, Sheldon has directed his interests to the Western Canadian wilderness. This has successfully combined his passion for the arts with his academic interest in the natural world, and his spiritual place within it. These striking landscapes have been well received in Canada and overseas, earning
him First Prize for Landscapes at the Alberta 2000 Winter Games Art Exposition and recognition on a national level in 2004 with the inclusion of his biography in the Canadian Who’s Who. As an extension of the philosophical basis for his landscapes, Sheldon has also turned to exploring people’s connections to the land through the rural architectural landscape. His atmospheric watercolours of decaying buildings have brought both television and magazine attention, and were acquired by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts in a juried acquisition of art.

Tall Grey Turmoil 96x30

Dark September Clouds - upcycled glass - 28" x 76"

Summer Sky - upcycled glass - 28" x 76"

Sheldon is also an accomplished writer and illustrator with many publications through Lone Pine Publishing. His nature guides for North America now grace bookshelves across the continent. One of his recent successes is Bugs of Alberta, a provincial non-fiction bestseller authored by John Acorn. Many more books featuring Sheldon’s life-like illustrations are slated for the press. Other ventures include a guide for Ecuador, a voluntary project aiming to increase conservation awareness in Ecuador.