Ian Sheldon
MA (Cantab) MSc
Ian Sheldon is a celebrated artist and illustrator, and has been widely represented in Canada and overseas. Dozens of books feature his lauded illustrations and his fine art has been published in hardcover.
While studying for his first degree at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Ian began painting the historic architecture of the city. This lead to representation by the region’s leading commercial gallery, a major exhibit in the city, and an offer from Cambridge University Press to publish his exceptional volume of watercolours Cambridge Footsteps: a passage through time. This collection of paintings is taken from over ten years of work and was launched to celebrate the University’s 800th anniversary.
Very much a citizen of the world, Sheldon has lived in South Africa, Singapore and England, and is very widely travelled. He makes his home in Canada where his reputation as a successful Western artist is well established. Sheldon has thoroughly immersed himself in the vast Canadian wilderness and his huge oils that explore his sense of place are highly sought after. With television profiles, magazine cover stories and a considerable archive of other media coverage, Ian Sheldon is rapidly on his way to becoming a household name.
Already listed in the Canadian Who’s Who since 2004, further recognition of his contributions and achievements include the publication in 2010 of Creative Glass, a coffee table production of 110 international glass artists. This book showcases Sheldon’s more recent exploration of glass as a medium to portray the landscapes he loves. 2011 saw the publication of Storm Chaser: Canadian Prairie Skyscapes, a celebration of Sheldon’s iconic stormy paintings, a beautiful coffee-table book that is sure to cement Sheldon’s presence in the national and international art scene in perpetuity.
Further recognition has come from the University of Alberta, where Sheldon did his second degree. Combining his talents as an artist with his academic knowledge of wildlife, he has published dozens of nature guides that grace the bookshelves across North America. Hundreds of the original entomological illustrations are now a permanent part of the university’s highly reputed Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, serving as a testament to the artist’s skill in yet another creative arena and a wonderful legacy to the province and country.
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Photo credit: Darren Greenwood www.dgphotography.com