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ed before my surgery, and I did finish
it, but I suffered for it. The hand isn’t
working right, but I just wanted to
paint.”
Her prior work included sign
work and stints with two amusement
parks back home. “[By] one of them I
was asked to do a cartoon strip in the
Lake Placid local newspaper, about
one of their characters in the park
called ‘Rowdy the Rascal Reindeer,’”
she said.
Though in the past she worked
in various mediums, including oils,
acrylics and charcoal, this time
around it is watercolors that have
captured her creative interests.
“I always liked the watercolors,
and I always wanted to try it, but I
never did,” she said. “And it was just
a little bit easier since I live in a small
place now. … And I really love it.”
Her work is thoughtful and at
times whimsical, much of it portray-
ing animals and birds. An owl half-
shrouded in darkness seems to take
you in as he turns his eye upon you.
The eye is watery and reflective, the
feathers spot-on. In another piece a
bright-eyed bull calf with a cottony
blaze on his forehead peers over a
rail fence. Another work shows a
frazzled black chick staring straight-
on while a tiny mouse crouches in
the background munching undis-
turbed on berries.
Her work received a first-place
nod at the Weatherford Chamber’s
Art in Action show held at the
Farmer’s Market off the Square.
She also entered paintings in the
Peach Festival competition held at
the Doss and judged by well-known
wildlife artist David Prescott, who
chose her painting of a Great Horned
Owl for his third-place pick.
“I was just so flabbergasted, over
the moon, that this international wild-
life artist even picked me,” she said.
“I felt validated, that maybe my art
isn’t that bad, you know.”
Though Sheft has entered her
work in competitions and plans to
continue to do so, she said she’s
really not competitive.
“I have never competed with
anyone,” the artist said. “The only
one I compete with is myself — that’s
what makes me a better person and
better at what I do. Remember, there