Sheila Barbone was born and raised in Stonington, a small coastal village in the southeast corner of Connecticut. She developed an interest in art at an early age and her teachers took notice of her talent. At the age of nine, the owner of Stonington Art Gallery was impressed by her work and exhibited her first painting. Sheila continued to paint scenes of Stonington for a number of years before she decided to embark on formal training. In her mid-thirties she enrolled in the Lyme College of Fine Arts, where she studied with numerous accomplished artists, developed her own unique style, and ultimately earned her BFA in painting. Sheila's paintings are decidedly impressionistic, fresh renderings of the environment which surrounds her. Bold brushstrokes and layering of paint define her work. She is equally adept at painting the dramatic hustle bustle of contemporary cityscapes as well as the coastal environment she grew up in. Since her time at Lyme Academy, she has exhibited at such prestigious venues as the Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport, the Copley Society of Boston, Cooley Gallery, Lyme Academy, and numerous other venues.

Artist's statement

The seascape of coastal Connecticut has always inspired me. I spent most of my life by the sea, swimming, boating or fishing. Sometimes I'd accompany my father lobstering. We went out in his boat to catch them early in the morning. These early images of life and events on the sea gave me relief, peace, and inspiration. Marine images have many possibilities for invention, one reason why I have focused on this work for so many years.

Over the last few years I have also discovered that the urban landscape holds great inspiration for me. I document in my work a snapshot of life in 21st Century. I often use my own photographs as reference material. With digital photos, one can zoom in or out on an image to find an area that is compositionally pleasing. My paintings start out as drawings - drawn with paint. Thin washes of color are added and eventually filled in with thick and thin paint. As I build upon the painting I try to keep the composition alive - if I focus on one area too long and over paint it I consider the painting lost. I also like to incorporate abstract elements in my work, which I feel give the paintings a more modern edge. I consider my work Representational Abstraction, with a bit of Impressionism thrown in.

The artist, which provides the most inspiration for me, is Winslow Homer and particularly how his work documented his era. Also intriguing to me is how his work developed, later in his career, to include some abstract elements. The list is long of the other artists who inspire me, but at the top are Joseph Turner and John Singer Sargent. I also like the work of the twenty first century artists Edgar Payne, Emile Gruppe, and George Bellows.