The paintings of award-winning artist Sheila Finch have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and Europe. She has received recognition from the National Arts Appreciation Program, as well as a prestigious show of work at Picasso's atelier at L’Espace Bateau Lavior in Paris.
Finch’s success in the fine arts has been documented over the years by Gold River Scene Magazine, from 1997 cover feature entitled, “Art and The Passion for Collecting,” again in the winter of 1998 cover, “Sheila Finch, An Appreciation,” and most recently in the Fall 2002 cover feature entitled, “The Art of Sheila Finch Revisited.”
Finch’s painting entitled “Strands of Gold” is featured on the book cover of The Land's Wild
Music: Encounters with Barry Lopez, Peter Matthiessen, Terry Tempest Williams, & James Galvin, by Mark Tredinnick.
“I am drawn to the strength and grace of the land and sea... to the rightness. My latest works are captured moments of vast quiet places. My goal is to create a visual memory of a spiritual moment in time... an enduring and timeless connection to the natural world in which we exist.
“I began painting as a child, studying studio painting with regional artist Gene Woods. By the time I was sixteen, I was earning a steady income from the sale of my paintings. Over the past 45 years, my images have evolved into somewhat abstracted landscapes. I begin with a visual memory, sometimes using a photo or an en-plein-air painting sketch as reference. My intention is to allow the painting to evolve through the build up of thin films of translucent color. As the painting progresses, I add more motion, blending, value changes, and rhythm to the brushwork. I tend to lose my sense of self, and the painting ‘tells’ me what is required in order to capture the mood. I know a painting is complete when it takes on a luminous quality of light and color... a life of its own.”
Finch's paintings are collected worldwide, and have most recently been acquired for the permanent collection of the Carnegie Foundation at Stanford in Palo Alto, California.