Welcome to the award winning art of Mary J Sheridan. I was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland and from an early age I have always expressed myself through my drawings and paintings. I have a degree in fine art , illustration and graphic design from the College of Marketing and Design, Dublin Ireland but I consider myself as self taught, as an artist I am always evolving and learning as I travel through life. Upon completion of my studies I was offered both a scholarship to attend the School of Art Edinburgh, Scotland and to also train in classical animation and conceptual design in film. I chose the latter and in the years that followed I have had the pleasure to work for many of the top film studios in the world , Dreamworks, Amblin, Warner Bros and Disney.

I draw efx with pencil. During the film making process I draw & animate fire, smoke, water, magic, light and shadow efx, it is an extremely labour intensive process and one which requires me to work in great detail and accuracy. To create the illusion of movement I draw each step of a moment, kinda like looking at an old length of film in negative where you see each frame in sequence. The camera then shoots each drawing and the final result is the illusion of movement.

I have exhibited consistently both in solo and group shows throughout my career. Some recent shows include; THE ADVERTISING BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, TABS Dublin, Ireland. 2003 - 2007 sponsered yearly by Jameson Irish Whiskey. BEAUFIELD MEWS ART GALLERY, Dublin, Ireland. Opened by Gladys Ruddock, RHA. 2003. ARDGILLAN CASTLE, Dublin, Ireland. Irish Artists Association yearly exhibit, 2000-2007. FINGAL ARTS CENTRE, Dublin, Ireland. Fingal Artists Association yearly exhibit, 2000-2007. WATERWORKS-solo exhibit of watercolours at the THE BANK OF IRELAND ARTS CENTRE, FOSTER PLACE, Dublin, Ireland. Sponsered by the Bank of Ireland to promote upcoming Irish artists, April/May 2001. FLOWER STORIES- solo exhibit of pastel and watercolour art at the SKERRIES MILLS ARTS CENTRE, Dublin, Ireland. Opened by Dr. Michael Woods TD, Gov. Min. for education and science. May 2000. BEAUFIELD MEWS ART GALLERY, Dublin, Ireland. Opened by Christine Ryall, Christie's Irish representative of the arts. April 2000. My work has also been purchased yearly by OPW, the Office of Public Works in Ireland to hang in both new and restored historical buildings throughout Ireland. The works remain in ownership of the public as part of the Irish governments efforts to promote and support living Irish artists and to preserve Irish art for future generations.

My movie credits as efx designer & animator are : All dogs go to Heaven+Balto+American Tail II+The Tales of Beatrix Potter+Space Jam+Osmosis Jones+Eldorado City of Gold+Spirit+Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas+Curious George +Rindin+The Gathering Place+Mark of the Dragon+and currently working on Killa Clown....&many more! If you were to ask me which movie I enjoyed working on most I think it most definitely would be The Tales of Beatrix Potter, with Sinead Cusack, a BBC production. The artwork was so wonderful to create, I used coloured pencils and ink line-work and rendered the textures of Miss Tiggywinkle's spines to the slippery skin of Mr Jeremy Fisher! The process required the application of ever so tiny pencil strokes to build up to the final illustration.

My studio is based out of Scottsdale, Arizona where I now live and I continue to show and sell my work, while also working full-time as an fx artist and designer.

As a young child I used to love to read the brothers Grimm fairytales and Edgar Allen Poe's short stories. Each of my paintings is a story told from me to you. Thankyou for visiting and to all of you who continue to support my art and those of you who stop by just to visit, I am happy to share with you the art Mary J Sheridan.