Sheehan sisters making their mark
THEY are the sibling duo from Dubbo making a name for themselves in the design world.
Emma and Penny Sheehan, an artist and interior designer respectively, are thriving in their respective careers and both credit their mum, Sally, a well-known pharmacist around town, for inspiring their creative eye.
After completing an art history major and Masters in Art Curation at the University of Sydney, Emma, 26, now resides on a sheep farm in Jugiong and spends every day in her studio.
“I try to look at spacing the painting out as my nine to five workday so that I don’t burn myself out, because I could keep painting into the late hours of the night when I’m in the zone but that’s not always productive in the long run,” she told Dubbo Photo News.
“In saying that, hours can vary, for example, in the lead up to exhibitions, days go on a bit longer and weekends disappear.”
As a little girl, Emma would seldom be caught without her sketch book which was full of hand-drawn patterns and creatures.
She went on to study art at school too, but admits it wasn’t her strongest subject.
“I never dreamed that I would become an artist as my profession or let alone ever thought I was good enough to be,” Emma said.
“I have to thank Gig, the owner of The Moree Gallery, for pushing me to take my art more seriously and encouraging me to pursue it as a career.”
Describing herself as a contemporary still life artist, Emma draws on her appreciation for colour, pattern, textiles, and ceramics to create eye-catching table scapes.
“I am very much drawn to colour and pattern and love experimenting with these qualities to instil a sense of playfulness within each work,” she said.
“My overall style is quite naïve, where I enjoy simplifying each object down to their most basic form and then add in finer details to give to bring each object to life.
“I aim to instil a cheerful feeling within my audience through my vibrant colour pal
ettes and compositions and to celebrate the joyous nature of home cooking and its associations.”
This month, Emma released a 2023 calendar that features 12 of her original artworks.
Next, she is preparing for a series of upcoming exhibitions in Murrurundi, Jugiong and Moree.
In April, she also has a solo exhibition at Maunsell Wickes Gallery in Sydney’s exclusive suburb of Paddington.
Meanwhile, big sister Penny, 28, is working for top interior designer Anna Spiro in Brisbane and has recently guest edited a collector’s edition of iconic design magazine, Home Beautiful.
Landing her dream job with Spiro straight out of university six years ago, Penny now works with her own clients based all around the country, helping them transform single rooms and entire houses.
For a brief time, Emma worked at the same design house and together the sisters worked on patterns for a special stationary collaboration for US retail giant, Anthropologie.
Naturally drawn to colour and pattern, which seems to run in the family, Penny is inspired by charming cottage interiors and traditional architecture details.
“I feel the best in and like to create rooms wrapped in colour and pattern but in a way that isn’t too chaotic,” Penny explained.
“Sometimes people think I love going all out bright, bright, bright, but I think that can all be too much – I like to have a mix and a well-balanced space.
“I love colour on the walls then mixed back with something more earthy like an old antique piece of furniture or a sisal rug tied all together with some beautiful, patterned curtains or cushions on the sofa.”
Penny’s love for styling also started young.
“I think I have always loved being surrounded by colour and beautiful things,” she said.
“Mum has told me that when I was young, I used to create mini shrines in my bedroom using picture frames, jewellery
boxes and other little objects so perhaps that was the start of me creating interiors.
“We have also been fortunate enough to always live in a home where the walls were filled with art and very rarely was there a room without pattern or colour.
“Growing up in that sort of environment definitely contributed to the way I like to live now and the interiors I love to help people create”.
Her career highlight so far was working on Anna Spiro’s book, A Life in Pattern.
“We worked on this book completely in house and I was fortunate enough to be given the role of designing the book as well as being a part of all the project and content shoots for the book imagery,” she said.
“It was so rewarding to be able to hold a finished copy of this book once it was printed and on book stands.
“I hope one day I that I could have my own book, that is still a little way off yet.”
On top of her day job, Penny and her fiancé and have also bought and styled a home on the outskirts of Crookwell NSW called the Moorabinda Guest House.
Injected with Penny’s unique, colourful, eclectic style, the house sleeps up to eight guests and of course, features Emma’s art on the walls.
“It was one of my first personal projects that I was able to work on and a bit of an experimenting ground for new wall colours and ideas,” Penny said of the house.
Penny’s next project is her own wedding, which is being held in the Sheehan family garden back in Dubbo next year.