Sara Martin Sheffield
My beginnings in Nova Scotia were within the Halifax public school 
system. In addition to being a librarian, I also spent time as a guidance counselor, principal, classroom teacher and resource teacher. The library work was my favorite. I worked in various schools in Halifax County, mostly in rural areas, and we were also in Toronto for three years. In order to take on some of the positions in which I was interested, I had to go back to school, finally earning masters degrees in counselling and literacy. (Left, “Sally” Martin in 1960)
I currently live in a house in Spry Bay, Nova Scotia, that we purchased in 1969. The photo above shows how rural the area is. You can see my house. After I retired, I sold the house I had in Halifax, having decided to move back to the house in Spry Bay.
Sara has established beautiful gardens on her property.
Some of my gardens, as you can imagine, require plenty of my attention. I really had fun creating all these beds which are in every direction from the house. I probably overdid it but I do love them. I also fill up containers and deck boxes so I have plenty of color.
Not much color at the moment though, as you can see from the photo below, which is looking down my driveway. I can’t remember when we’ve had so much snow. That particular storm a couple of weeks ago dropped about three feet. This past Tuesday we had another foot or so and, with the blowing wind, plenty of drifting. Too bad I no longer have my cross country skis.
Some of my other chores include a bit of construction with driftwood I gather from the shore. I enjoy creating funky fences as backdrops for some of the gardens. I also have supports from which I hang old wooden windows on which I’ve done mosaic designs. I never lack for something to do.
Currently, I have 15 paintings at The Bread Gallery for a show with my friend, Jude. The exhibit will be up until the end of March.
Besides mosaic work, I also paint in oil, acrylic, and watercolor; make assemblages with driftwood; and create hardscapes for my gardens. It’s like having this big sandbox to play in. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Editor’s Note: Sara is obviously a dedicated, passionate, artistic gardener, as her photos show. The shoreline climate where she lives is a bonus to the beauty she creates. The gardening zone there is 6b and that correlates to areas around Boston from the seashore inland.
Additional information about Sara and her artwork may be found at
https://www.artisansoftheeasternshore.com/sara-sheffield
“Sara Sheffield started taking adult education classes in art in the mid 1980’s. She has attended art workshops in North Carolina, upstate New York, Hawaii, Southern France and Nova Scotia. Sara works in acrylic, pastel, oil and watercolor mediums as well as mosaics.
“She enjoys painting many subjects, and especially enjoys seascapes. Her work is found in collections in Nova Scotia, Ontario, the United States, Italy and France.”
