Guest Artists – Painter Shirley Hales and Jewelry Artists Gale Shamblott and Sharon Shaw

In April 2024, the Hirdie Girdie Gallery is excited to welcome as our Guest Artist, Shirley Hales. In addition we have jewelry artists Gale Shamblott and Sharon Shaw.

In addition, we welcome our new member, sculptor Chris Christian.

Come and meet them all April 11th from 5 – 7 pm, for our last reception of the season.

Chris Christian:

Sanibel resident Chris Christian has had a 35+-year career as an architect handling multi-national projects. Now retired, he is able to spend more time pursuing his interests in pottery, cycling, boating, volunteering with SCCF, and enjoying Sanibel community events.

“I was originally introduced to ceramics as part of a broader based education in the arts to complete his graduate degree in Architecture and was immediately taken with the nature of the medium in contrast to the complexities of building design. I enjoy the visualization of a piece before I begin and the directness of the movement of clay in response to the hands.

I work with both Raku and electric kiln firing methods on wheel thrown and hand formed pieces to produce an array of items such as bowls, vases, platters, canisters and hanging orchid vessels and will often carve, texture and deform pieces, drawing some inspiration from our island environment while attempting to avoid being derivative. I am interested in form, texture, positive/ negative, and experimenting with color through a combination of glazes.”

Shirley Hales

Shirley’s work will be on display throughout the month of April.

About Shirley Hales:

Shirley began her professional art career in 2000 in the Washington, DC area. Proficient in numerous art mediums her favorite subjects include landscapes, brilliant sunsets, nautical scenes and wildlife that express her enjoyment of nature and passion for artistic realism. She recently discovered the challenge of watercolor painting on black paper for a dramatic non-traditional approach to watercolor painting. Her art has won many awards and has been featured in major publications, exhibitions, and galleries from New Jersey to Florida. Commission work includes illustrations for a world-wide public relations firm, local businesses, and individual collectors. Shirley is the Founder of Harbour View Gallery, Cape Coral, FL, a member of COCO Gallery (Estero, FL), the Southwest Florida Watercolor Society, the Working Artists Forum (Easton, MD) where she is the Membership Chair, and The Artists’ Gallery and Chestertown River Arts both in Chestertown, MD. She is a four-time juried artist for the prestigious Plein Air Easton Local Color exhibition in Easton, Maryland. Shirley teaches at the Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers, FL and for Women of Watercolor, Naples, FL. In 2010 she was nominated for the Southwest Florida annual Angels of the Arts, Arts Organization Leader of the Year Award for creating Harbour View Gallery and spearheading the first annual 2010 “Paint the Cape” plein air competition and exhibition. She was one of seven Cape Coral artists selected for the 2013 Alliance of the Arts Annual Art Studio Tour. Shirley and her husband David maintain residences in Cape Coral, Florida and the eastern shore of Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. huesbyshirley@hotmail.com 703-987-7108

Jewelry Artists Gale Shamblott and Sharon Shaw