SPORTS, STYLE & INSPIRATION
SHEILA WOLK – “SPIRIT OF HYPER-REALITY” – 1987 SPORT ARTIST OF THE YEAR-
AND NOW FANTASY ART

Wolk’s preferred style of pastels mixed smoothly with sports, mixing drama and blending intensity, power and grace, humor and tension, anguish with desperation. They are the emotions athletes juggle during the course of a competition, on a play-to-play basis.

Many artists use pastels for sketching, but Wolk is one of the few to master using the medium for painting. She cites Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo as her major sources of inspiration.
“My art has been the one constant factor that has helped me through the tough times, and there have been plenty of those!” she said.

Sheila Wolk’s first foray into sport art was the depiction of a boxing match. “It’s such an animalistic sport,” she said. “I wanted to show the struggling, the battle.” Wolk devoted twenty-three years of her career to the struggles and battles athletes endure every time they step on the playing field.
Before she painted a subject, Wolk studied photos of the sport and attempted to adopt a player’s state of mind. She would imagine the athlete’s weight and balance before proceeding. “What I do in essence is a self-portrait,” is how she described the process.

Her subjects included winners, such as tennis great Bjorn Borg as well as events that branded athletes as legends. She also painted the shrines that served as homes for their amazing accomplishments.

Still, there was always a place in Wolk’s work for the little guy, the athlete who may not cross the finish line first, but always gets credit for trying their best. She has professed her admiration of the athlete who “…comes in last. He’s not a loser because he is in there competing.”

Wolk’s works for the 1988 Olympics displayed a transition into her new style of art, hyper-realism. The style is defined as taking art one step beyond what a camera can do. This is not to be confused with other hyper-realism art movements which emphasize life-like paintings. With hyper-reality, art literally exposes the soul. The movement began in France, but Wolk was among the first Americans to explore and paint in this style.

Wolk was not only preserving the image of the sporting moments she would capture, but she discovered the very essence of them, the things that touched us in those moments.
The New York artist successfully turned the soft-edged medium of pastels into paintings capturing the glory and pain and agony and ecstasy of athletic competition. Wolk managed to incorporate her personal philosophy into her works. She showed there is more to a photograph than just colors and objects. ASAMA curator Robert Zimlich says of Sheila’s work,
     “Her pastel painting of the 1987 New Orleans Saints’ head coach, Jim Mora, is a creative masterpiece. Her skill is evidenced in Mora’s hair, which is better than a photograph could have captured. Using musical instruments to represent New Orleans jazz is creative enough but the piece de resistance is using football plays as notes on a musical staff. Never under estimate this artist. Sheila always does her homework. Those are actually Mora’s winning plays.”

Wolk eventually left the sport artist profession, after deciding it was time for a change. She left at the top of her profession with a number of one-woman shows, numerous exhibitions, corporate collections in double-digit numbers, and a wealth of lithographs and posters published and distributed. She admitted it was a scary decision. “Being a woman in that world was extremely difficult. I won many awards, had hundreds of shows, was known all over the world and yet I still had to fight for every penny.”

The next stage of Wolk’s career took her into the land of fantasy, of mermaids and fairies. She blends techniques to create a stirring glimpse into a magical world of lore, myths and legends. “Art has to touch you somewhere,” she said.
The style fit Wolk perfectly, as she channeled the pain over her childhood into her art. One of her landmark paintings, “The Weanling,” was a prime example of her work during this period. She said the work expresses “man’s inner conflict within himself.”
Wolk’s transition into fantasy art seems like a natural step in that it goes beyond what photographs can do. It’s a step beyond real in more ways than an exaggeration of real. There is a connection that, at their very core, these paintings, like her sport art, revert to some basic human concept or experience.
http://www.asama.org/awards-of-sport/medallion-series/sport-artist-of-the-year/shelia-wolk/style-inspiration/

SHEILA WOLK – “SPIRIT OF HYPER-REALITY” – 1987 SPORT ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Study of Football Players Hands
Like many children, Sheila Wolk wanted to be an athlete growing up. Unfortunately, bad knees didn’t allow her to participate like she’d hoped. Wolk had dreams of becoming a competitive swimmer, but two dislocated kneecaps served as a roadblock.
So Wolk went in different directions, taking up sports like golf, archery, billiards, and darts.
“I appreciate sports,” she once said. “Even if it’s just rifle shooting. If there’s a TV movie on that’s about sports, I’ll watch that too.”

1984 World Series Program Cover
Wolk was a graduate of the Corcoran School of Art, an affiliate of George Washington University. She also studied at Britain’s Leeds School of Art, New York’s School of Visual Arts and the Kansas City Art Institute. Her career began as an art director for a pharmaceutical advertising agency and as a medical illustrator. Demonstrating her skills in the human form, she produced her first pastel in sport art with a 1978 boxing match.
Wolk began her fine art education in the 1960s before switching to commercial art.
“I was going to leave home and needed to find a job,” she said. “It was easier to earn money through commercial art than struggling as a fine artist waiting to be discovered.
After eight years with an advertising agency, Wolk returned to freelancing. She went on to open a business with an original line of tote bags, including the first silk-screened canvas tote bag in America, the Volkswagen Tote Bag. The line expanded to include baby night shirts, but the operation was shut down across America by the government when a fire-retardant chemical, “triss,” used to produce the shirts was banned. The development left Wolk devastated and bankrupt.
Wolk entered the sport artist field shortly after her business venture, and quickly rose to the top of her profession. She earned praise for her depictions of everything from horse racing, baseball, tennis, football, and golf. A review from a New York City show offered this praise: “Her descriptive skill is up to any moment and her draftsmanship is without question.”
_______________________________________________________________________
KEY SPORT WORKS & WORLD INFLUENCE
SHEILA WOLK – “SPIRIT OF HYPER-REALITY” –
1987 SPORT ARTIST OF THE YEAR- AND NOW FANTASY
Artist Biography | Style & Inspiration | Key Sport Works & World Influence

Study of Athlete
The girl who dreamed of becoming a star swimmer growing up instead became a ground-breaking woman in the sport art world. Wolk was the first woman to be commissioned by Major League Baseball to do the cover for the Official World Series program. She had an exhibition in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and a drawing of Yankees legends Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, drew critical acclaim.
Wolk also created Winter Olympic posters for the 1980 Lake Placid hockey competition, best known for the United States’ “Miracle on Ice” gold medal moment. She also had an exhibition at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia and was commissioned to produce works for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team depicting ice skating, skiing, hockey, swimming, gymnastics and track and field.
 
Fantasy
A special spread called “Pastel on Ice” in the National Hockey League (NHL) official magazine also attracted special attention. Her magazine essay was done “…on 100 percent rag cotton paper with soft pastels.” In a press release announcing her as the 1987 Sport Artist of the Year, Wolk said she used an elongation effect for the NHL essay because:
“It is hard-core hockey and when you know the anatomy you can distort it and the stretching effect captures the movement.” She described the blurred image as “a fusion effect.” Her goal in the painting was to create a dreamlike calmness and let the viewer of the painting use their imagination.

Wolk’s career eventually turned in another direction, but she picked up her share of honors and recognition along the way. Her portrayals of athletes and their struggles and successes helped Wolk earn the 1987 Sport Artist of the Year award from the United States Sports Academy. Her legacy in the sport genre was secure. In another groundbreaking moment for Wolk, she was the first woman to be honored by ASAMA.

Wolk was lauded by the co-chairmen of the ASAMA Art Committee when she was named Sport Artist of the Year. Jane Williamson and Faye Earnest Carr were impressed with “Ms. Wolk’s unique use of an art medium normally thought of for only still lifes, flower studies, landscapes and formal, posed portraits.”
​
Wolk once said: “I love sports because of the energy.”  It is the same energy bundled into her paintings that brought her work to the attention of the sports world and the ASAMA Art Committee, leaving behind an impact in the sport art community that endures.
 
ASAMA // THE AMERICAN SPORT ART MUSEUM & ARCHIVES

:::WAS 1975 AND::
:i made the first Volkswagon Bus Bags decades ago. andI called the MAIN OFFICE IN NEW JERSEY every day and pleaded for them to see what I designed and it would bring in great profits for us both!!
..They hung up..I called again..same thing.
I called TWICE A DAY and finally a VP got on phone and said if they see that would finally shut me up-and come in and show them what I designed

...AND SO I WENT AND WITHIN AN HOUR I was sitting with their lawyers and accountants doing the numbers of how it would profit!!THEY LOVED IT

VW OF AMERICA gave me a tour of all their properties and then they told me they wanted me to DO IT and I could keep all the monies since I was so young and was trying anything to make a living as an artist here in NYC ( hard to do when your a young gal and alone and broke). THEY gave me the OK to mass produce and they advertised my bags all over the world...I have that under my belt as one of my FIRSTS in my careers in the ARTS

A very very well known Magazine named "THE NEW YORK" WAS ONE OF THE MAGAZINES that reviewed my bags ..heres the full page..then I made then in blue and white,,,red and white,,NY checker cabs and animal cracker bags..animal carrier bags and tote bags. They WERE LARGE AND THEN I MADE VERY SMALL BAGS AND SEWED A SAMPLE LOOP TO THE BAGS AS A TEST AND CALLED THEM SMALL WRIST BAGS AND BELT BAGS ..TESTED THEM ON MARKET AND MADE HIT with all stores ordering like crazy

They sold very very well around America I was 27 years old, and felt like I owned NYC...tee hee. Everywhere I went near the most famous stores my Bags ( Saks Fifth Avenue,,,Bloomingdales....Nehman and Marcus....Lord and Taylors...and soo many many more) my bags were in their windows beautifully displayed
​
....Designing bags and clothes was a fun thing for me to do but not my dream
..My dream was for all to know my paintings and that happened later...BUT IT DID HAPPEN!! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤*•°.°•*•°.°•*

:::Sheila Wolk Sports Artist and Fantasy Artist, are both me ::::: so funny how people still get confused that those two portfolios of art were by two different Sheila Wolk's...hahah NOPE....it's me❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤
Here are my edited resumes of my art careers'... and ALL art done with soft pastels on paper.
...ps...the Fantasy Art career is still in progress with more to add soon

AN AMAZING AUTUMN DAY::::''EARTH''©Sheila Wolk 2001
​The wind is blowing, the temperature is chilled....golden leaves falling like like drips of paint from the limbs and branches of tree's. The breeze sings Autumn in the air....and I am loving every second of this GLORY*+*+*+***+
....Mother Nature is combing her hair
....enjoy!!!*•°.°•*•°.°•*❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤​

⚫️::::YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE::::⚫️

​Today infringement is rampant on the Internet facilitated by service providers who provide an almost uncontrolled forum. All artists are susceptible. While the DMCA protects the service providers, in most cases from suit, the perpetrators are not protected.
     In 2016 I discovered extensive infringement of my artwork, ‘’Metamorphosis’’ that was committed in England and the United States by Stephen Ormerod. I brought a lawsuit against him for his willful copyright infringement.
    I am pleased to announce that the Federal District Court in New York (Docket 18-cv-3020) granted judgment against Ormerod, in my favor for $100,000.00 for his willful and extensive copyright infringement.
   A copy of that Judgment is posted here. Ormerod is now serving a prison sentence in HM Prison in Preston, England.
    It is my intent to continue to protect my rights in the future.
Thank you
Sheila Wolk
💛💚💗💜💙

So I was at my corner ''Plant Shed'' Store re-potting my cactus into larger vase and saw ❤️❤️Peter Max sitting in back of Store in the cafe having a cake with some friends and I went up to him and said " excuse me but You Are Peter Max, right? ...and he nodded his head YES..and I reminded him how he met with me when I was 19 years old, alone in NYC with 500 dollars in my pocket, standing in a phone booth, looked up the word 'ARTIST' saw his name and called and needed a job . He said if I had the nerve to call then he had the nerve to say OK... he found my first job for me, and that was 53 years ago!!!!!!!!!💛💚💗💜💙
❗️
Peter Is now older too and has dementia but I stayed and told him that he will always be in my heart where he helped me out in my time of need so long ago.
...He asked me how I did in the Arts and I said at this time in my life, it was rough but very good to me in the end and how I am setting up a foundation to pay it forward when I die to help other artists .

...He smiled, gave me 2 thumbs up and said...GOOD FOR YOU!.....I told him that he mattered so much to me and I was so very lucky to see him 53 years later to say THANK YOU
WAS A GREAT DAY! for the both of us. 💛💚💗💜💙-s.wolk 2020

How exciting...I  now have a wonderful coloring book page in Amazon known as the Sheila Wolk Author Page...come check it out :-)
It has all my new coloring books available there...and yes I will run sales later when closer to the holidays :-) 
 https://www.amazon.com/author/sheilawolk 

​my newest book "Fantasy Unleashed" for colorists to have fun and really get creative making exciting backgrounds too📌💛💚💗💜💙
Here is one I colored in with a grungy background and wow did I have fun!!!!
https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ASheila+Wolk&s=relevancerank&text=Sheila+Wolk&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
❤️🧡💛💚💙

So thrilled to  have my Mermaid  adult coloring books up with Amazon now!!!
 and here is where you  can find them...yay!!!!! 
https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ASheila+Wolk&s=relevancerank&text=Sheila+Wolk&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1

   I have been painting with Soft Pastels and pastel pencils for 48 years in Sports art and Fantasy Art and now own a Publishing and Licensing company, 3 stores, I have products of my paintings from tapestries to puzzles to figurines, and just came out with my book...etc; selling through mass production with contracts throughout the world.
...  Was a long road and exciting journey and now that I reflect on my past 70 years, and with no children I hired a law firm and completed a TRUST with a created ''SHEILA WOLK FOUNDATION'' to commence upon my death to help other artists in need...paying it forward.
...  Now I organize my life and teach my executor how to keep my products and art going after my death as if I am teaching them from my grave..and when I tell them that we all laugh together
...  and life goes on and all I wanted from when I was a little girl in the arts, was to be remembered
....so QUALITY was always KEY...and working hard was the KEY TURNER. -s.wolk 2018

:::ATTENTION TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO ARE ARTISTS AND/OR STORES:::
I am pleased that after I made ACCO Corporation and Derwent Pencil Company aware of their infringement of my art, Metamorphosis, we have come to a successful understanding. Below is their apology for their infringement.

To my dear artist friends in Internet: Please make sure you copyright all your successful pieces of artworks and also watermark your images before you put them in internet.

To customers now and in future: Please make sure you check out the artists claim as being the creator by asking for their copyright to that said image.

::::Statement by Derwent and ACCO Brands Corporation::::
For generations, artists around the world have chosen Derwent for their art materials. Artists are our customers and collaborators, and it is our passion to support artists worldwide. That is why we regret that we unwittingly used an image in our marketing materials that an artist believes infringed the copyright in her own work.

In 2017, the artist Sheila Wolk notified Derwent and its parent company ACCO Brands Corporation for the first time that she believed that an image used by Derwent in its marketing materials copied her pre-existing work, Metamorphosis.
The image used by Derwent had been commissioned by Derwent in 2005 to demonstrate the capabilities of Derwent’s Graphitint pencils.

The image was created by Stephen Ormerod, an independent contractor not employed by Derwent. In 2017, after Derwent posted Mr. Ormerod’s image on its Facebook page, Ms. Wolk pointed out similarities between Metamorphosis and Mr. Ormerod’s image, as well as a 2005 online statement by Mr. Ormerod that he had been inspired by Metamorphosis.

Derwent was not previously aware of Metamorphosis or Mr. Ormerod’s 2005 statement. Indeed, after Derwent was contacted by Ms. Wolk in 2017, Derwent quickly removed the work from its Facebook page and endeavored to have it removed from other locations that were not in its control. Nonetheless, we understand that Ms. Wolk was offended by Derwent’s use of this work.

Although it was unintentional, we sincerely regret and apologize to Ms. Wolk for any negative impact that Derwent’s actions may have had on her.
Derwent is committed to supporting artists at every stage of the creative journey and we respect the intellectual property rights of others.

"METAMORPHOSIS" © SHEILA WOLK 1997
one of the paintings that I did, that made me cry with happiness and serenity while I worked on it, and when completed...she is very special to me.
 
…you should have seen this painting when I first started it, she had whales, sharks, squid, dolphins, and all sea creatures coming out of her hair.... it got so top heavy, after working on it 8 months I wiped it all out and stuck in the red fish ( easy to correct the painting while working on it because all my art is in soft pastel dust and with a paper towel I can remove what ever I want and work over it)
...BANG!!!! I knew where to go after that…the painting told me what to do. In total this concept and painting took 2 years to create and accomplish

“METAMORPHOSIS” POEM © SHEILA WOLK 2003
 
 IT IS ELIMINATION WHICH MAKES COMPLETION
WHEN YOU CAN SEPARATE YOUR PIECES TO SEE THE ALL
AND THEN RE-UNITE TO BE IN HARMONY;
ONLY THEN CAN YOU FEEL WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT

THE MORE SEPERATIONS THERE ARE,
THE MORE THE COMPLETION PURIFIES

FOR WHEN WE ARE ASLEEP ~ WE ARE TRULY AWAKE
THE BODY IS RESTING ITS DECEPTION AND THE REAL IS.

Painting1997© Sheila Wolk~poetry2003© Sheila Wolk
 

Question: does anyone really want to speak the truth?
Or do we leave ourselves so vulnerable that we result in writing truth on paper and tucking it away so no one can see it?
Do you really want truth revealed?
Is truth so sacred that it must be hidden?
 
Does our own Truth, destroy the self, when truth becomes too hard to bear?

​

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QUESTION: why can't we believe truth when it is gifted to us?
.... And if we do accept truth at that every moment, should we settle on that, that is the only truth?
.... Or will the next moment of the Earth's axis turn, turn even that truth around so another truth can take its place the next minute, or hour?
 
QUESTION: How truthful is truth?
 
I guess my ANSWER would be, truth is at that very moment of reflection as to what lead you to that conclusion, BUT, it can change if any event happens, even a blink of an eye...so this leads me to this...
 
QUESTION: HOW MUCH FAITH DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR OWN TRUTH?? -s.wolk2015