Sheila Gertrude Mackie (1928-2010) was an English artist, illustrator and teacher from

Consett Consett is a town in the County Durham (district), County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. She was born in

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street () is a market town in County Durham, England. It is located around north of Durham and is close to Newcastle. The town holds markets on Saturdays. In 2021, the town had a population of 23,555. The town's history is ancient; ...

, and studied art at King's College in Newcastle (now

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

). She taught art at Consett Grammar School, where she was head of department from 1950, and also spent many months painting and working at

Bertram Mills Bertram Wagstaff Mills (August 1873 – 16 April 1938) was a British circus owner originally from Paddington, London, who ran the Bertram Mills Circus. His circus became famous in the UK for its Christmas shows at Olympia in West London televised ...

Circus. In later life she lived at

Shotley Bridge Shotley Bridge is a village, adjoining the town of Consett to the south in County Durham, England, 15 miles northwest of Durham, England, Durham. It is located on the A694 road (Great Britain), A694 road starting from Consett and Blackhill, Con ...

where she painted in a caravan studio. Several of her paintings were bought by the then Derwentside District Council, and are now owned by

Durham County Council Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...

. Her ''Platform 4, Newcastle Station'' was bought in 1953 for the

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...

. In the early 1960s she painted two large murals ''Agony in the Garden'' and ''The Conversion of Saul'', each by for the retreat house at the then monastery of Minsteracres; they were known to still exist in 2010 and are listed in the database ''PostWar Murals Database''. ''NB Order of listings is not explicit but appears to by county, so "Northumberland"'' She illustrated books including

Julian Glover Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English actor with many stage, television, and film roles. Classically trained, he is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Gl ...

's ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'',

Magnus Magnusson Magnus Magnusson (born Magnús Sigursteinsson; 12 October 1929 – 7 January 2007) was an Icelandic-born British-based journalist, translator, writer and television presenter. Born in Reykjavík, he lived in Scotland for almost all his life, al ...

's book on the island of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

, and books by naturalist

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English academic, botanist, television presenter, author and prominent environmental campaigner in the UK and globally. His distinctive, energetic style of presenting became wel ...

. In 2001 an exhibition of Mackie's work was held at the

Durham Art Gallery The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and th ...

: it was called "Through the Eyes of a Dragon" because she was born in the Chinese year of the dragon. Mackie died on 13 September 2010. She had two children and two grandchildren and was divorced.

Selected publications

* * * *

References

External links

* ''Showing seven of her paintings'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackie, Sheila 1928 births 2010 deaths Artists from County Durham People from Consett People from Chester-le-Street Alumni of King's College, Newcastle 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters People from Shotley Bridge 20th-century English women 21st-century English women 20th-century English women painters 21st-century English women painters