Linda Shields

“The concepts of the sacred and sanctuary have guided my work for a number of years. This fascination with sacred objects and spaces arises from my need to feel safe in this crazy world and to get in touch with the spiritual aspects of life that often are ignored. I am constantly attracted to environments or objects that evoke this feeling of sanctuary as spiritual. I may find it by observing Anasassi dwellings, doors to abandoned homes, a well used picnic table, ruins of old mansions or lunar moths. It is the search for safety and meaning that motivates me to make the art. I may make a painting or I may pursue a mixed media piece. What I am after is an image that portrays what Marcus Borg calls ‘places where we are most in touch with the spiritual.’ I am looking for a sense of timelessness and peace.”

— Linda Shields

About the Artist

Linda Shields is an artist and a social worker who has considerable experience in the human services ranging from executive director of Caritas, a feeding and shelter program for the homeless to her current position at Goochland Department of Social Services as a Social Worker. She has an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Certificate from the Sorbonne. She has studied painting at Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, James Madison University and under several artists, among them Wolfgang Jasper, Jerry Coulter and Chase Decker. Her work has been included in many solo and group exhibits, juried and invitational and has earned awards. She is a member of Artspace and the Rappahannock Art League.