WIDMORE GALLERY

Sheila Fell was born at Aspatria, Cumberland in 1931 and although she lived in London for the greater part of her life, she devoted her career to painting and drawing places close to her place of birth. The Cumberland landscape would always remain her chief influence, inspiration and theme.

After her early education at Richmond Hill School, Aspatria, Fell gained a scholarship allowing her to attend the Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton, where the teacher responsible for art, Mrs Campbell-Taylor, recognised her ability and encouraged her to go to art college. At the age of 16 she enrolled at the Carlisle School of Art (1947–1949), then housed in Tullie House. She later described this experience as a 'dismal disaster'.  After rejecting their advice she enrolled at Saint Martin's School of Art (1949–1951) where she studied under Roland Vivian Pitchforth and John Napper. She gained her National Diploma in Design at the age of 21, and then stayed on for a further twelve months to complete a post graduate course. Fell augmented the grant received from Cumberland County Council by working in a night club and also at the National Gallery. During her college years she exhibited her work in the Young Contemporaries Show in 1952 and 1953. After leaving college, she worked for a while as a freelance painter during thre day, did head modelling, and worked in a café at night.

In 1955 at the age of 24, she held her first exhibition, becoming the youngest ever artist to exhibit at the Beaux Arts Gallery in Bond Street, London. In December 1955, she appeared on the ten-minute 'Highlight' television programme, which spotlighted the personalities of the day. She joined the teaching staff of Chelsea School of Art in 1958. She would never return to live in Cumberland but its landscape dominated her work for the rest of her life.

Sheila Fell never painted romantic pictures of nature or pretty chocolate box pictures of sunny days among the lakes and fells of her native countryside, but used powerful, melancholy oils of living landscape, presided over by huge brooding mountains and dark looming clouds. Colour was always less important than tone, she painted the hills and the seas of the area she loved so well, she painted the earth and those who worked it, depicting rich brown soils, piles of potatoes, small groups of driven cattle, indistinguishable farm buildings and terraced houses running along the streets of Aspatria.

 Fell's first major award came in October 1957 after she entered a painting in the John Moores painting exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. The competition drew 3,000 entries, short listed to 250. Fell, the only female winner, came second in the junior section and picked up a cheque for £250. In 1959, she received a 'Boise' travelling scholarship. Although she travelled extensively throughout Italy, Greece, Switzerland and France the period was not a success. As she told one enquirer: “I have an obsession about Cumberland. I have tried painting in other parts of the world, particularly Greece, but it just doesn't work.” In 1967, she was awarded an Arts Council Purchase Award. In 1969 she was elected Associate Member of the Royal Academy (A.R.A.) and a full membership (R.A.) five years later.

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