BIOGRAPHY
Sheila Nugent was born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts where she developed a love for the ocean, and it's surounding beauty. As a child Sheila spent many a summer taking art lessons and was blessed to be able to watch first hand such artists as Ken Gore, Emile Gruppe, Howard Curtis, Paul Frontiero, Sr. and Joseph Margules as they painted along the waterfront and beaches of Cape Ann. Her love for art and the ocean continued as she graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Marine Biology. While raising a family, Sheila went on to receive her Nursing Degree from North Shore Community College. An avid boater with a Captains License, Sheila has years of experience cruising the waters of New England and coastal Florida.
After a 40 year Emergency Room nursing career that has taken her from New England to Florida and back again, Sheila has finally found time to devote to her original love of painting. She maintain memberships in the Gilbert's Cove Lighthouse Association, The Florida Lighthouse Association, The Chonchologists of America, the Boston Malacological Club and the Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club. She has also been a volunteer at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum as a docent and a committee member for the Annual Sanibel-Captiva Shell Show.
In 2009, Sheila received the Howard Sexauer Perpetual Silver Bowl and blue ribbon for her entry "Molluscs of the Gulf of Maine" in the scientific division of the 72nd Annual Sanibel Shell Show, held in March (see photo to the right). Her painting titled "Sanibel" won a third place ribbon in the artistic division of the show.
At the 2010 Sanibel Shell Show, Sheila received a blue ribbon for her exhibit on shell mounds and a second place ribbon for her exhibit on fossils, both in the scientific division (see photo to the left).
In 2011, Sheila won the Howard Sexaur Award and a blue ribbon at the Sanibel Shell Show for her exhibit on Shells from the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy Region (see photo to the right). Her painting titled "Captain's Collection" won a third place ribbon in the artistic division of the show.
Click HERE to see more of Sheila's paintings.
