TONY SHEETS, designer, painter, sculptor, metal worker and teacher.
…I continue my diverse career in art with sculpture commissions in progress, board of director's work with non-profits, pounding copper repousse’ sculptures, carving Emu eggs, doing painting commissions and paintings for fun and personal growth. My family and friends also continue to bring me much personal satisfaction, balancing my artistic pursuits.

Over the last twenty-five years of self-employment, I have completed commissions in California, Arkansas, Hawaii and Texas. I have been able to work in varying materials such as cast and fabricated metals, copper repousse’, cast stone, poured concrete, applied sand and cement, and resins. Each new commission has formed a working and collaborative relationship with my clients, resulting in over 50 sculpture and mural commissions since 1972. The scale of my work has ranged from tabletop sculptures to sculpture murals, which cover the entire sides of buildings. It includes paintings hung on the walls of collectors, and murals in corporate buildings.

As the son of a noted American artist, Millard Sheets, I grew up surrounded by artists. They allowed me to work in their studios from a young age, learning many of the processes of art, as well as an understanding of the "business of art".

Through high school and into college, there were always opportunities for apprenticing with working professional artists and local building contractors. After two years of studying landscape architecture at Cal Poly, Pomona, I made a decision that would prepare me for a lifetime of involvement in the arts. Leaving college, I worked for the next twelve years in full time apprenticeship with professional artists, architects and Walt Disney. This allowed me to work throughout the Mainland U.S., Hawaii and Taipei, learning the lessons of human relations and being able to design art in and for the varying conditions of construction, climate and a wide variety of clients.

In 1972, my wife and I started our own business. One of the most interesting aspects of my career has been in developing and experimenting with new methods for creating art. During my travels to Mexico teaching painting workshops, I was first introduced to copper repousse’. This has opened up a new medium for me. In the two years I have been pounding copper into art, I have discovered that it is a natural medium for expression of my whimsical creative spirit as well as satisfying my sculpting talents.

Tony Sheets, 2003