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Arts & Entertainment

Meet the Artist: Sheila Brandon Captures Nature In Ceramic

As the annual Deer Path Art Fair is underway, Patch went behind the scenes with two local artists. Stay tuned for part two on Tuesday.

Lake Bluff-based artist Sheila Brandon has an eye for natural beauty. Brandon's ceramic work especially pays homage to the aesthetics of fruit.

She only sells her work locally, with this Labor Day Weekend's Art Fair being the main venue.

Earlier:

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Over the years, Brandon said she's built up a large group of 'collectors' in the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff area. SHe'll be at site 41, near the Metra station, in the Deerpath Art League Show in Lake Forest on Sunday and Monday.

Patch chatted with Brandon as she readied for the fair.

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Patch: How long have you been an artist and why ceramics?

Brandon: I've been doing it probably since about 99, and we came over to the United States in 1989. I started making ceramics, but had been painting before that. I was mostly painting cards and tiles for friends and family. But my love for ceramics really developed and I bought a kiln. I started out giving what I made away as gifts and that somehow got me in the first pumpkin fest at the junior high school and you know it really built from there.

Patch: How do you make your work?

Brandon: I work from home and don't do many shows. I make it as natural as i can. I make the molds myself. I work about every other day on my art. I usually work at night.

Patch: What inspires you?

Brandon: I really didn't like plastic fruit. I am more in tune with art from Italy or the Victorian-era. I like carrying on those traditions through my ceramics. I've seen the beautiful work that people have done in Florence and get inspired by it.

Patch: Do you make more than fruits and vegetables?

Brandon: Occassionally I make model for other people, like a cat or a castle. 

Stay tuned for part two of Patch's Meet the Artist featuring a Lake Forest resident. For more news and updates from Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch, subscribe to our daily e-newsletter, ”Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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