Lysle E. Shields Jr. exhibits artwork pieces at library

MADISON – Lysle E. Shields Jr. created his first piece of art — that he remembers — when he was nine years old. Shields, who’s now 82 years old, has been exhibiting his artwork at Madison Public Library.

That first piece of art was an ink drawing of his father. “He returned it to me in 2002. I still have it in my archives,” Shields said.

Shields has worked with numerous types of media, including pencils, charcoal, pastels, watercolors, pen and ink, sand art and acrylics. “I also have sculpted in polymer clay,” Shields said. “I taught myself with some help from my two artistic aunts.”

“My go-to media now is acrylics. I like colors that dry fast, and I have them here in my house,” Shields said.

He designs extensive subjects, including landscapes, portraits, abstracts, buildings, square dancers, Native Americans, people, feathers and flowers. He’s also known as “Feather with Spots.”

His work, “American Indian Woman,” is a portrait of a maiden who is dancing; the bead work is textured. His “Georgia Country Gas Station” depicts an old, dilapidated gas station near Robins Air Force Base.

“Boy Picking up a Flower” is a portrait. “The two sons of the lady I painted it for liked it so much, I had to paint an identical painting — one for each of them,” Shields said. “Gazebo by the Pond” is a small ink and pen with color fills that he first painted on mat board, then onto a wine bottle.

What piece of art is his favorite? “That is, indeed, a tough question. I really don’t have a favorite, but it might be ‘Janet Sleeping’ done in soft pastels around 1962. I did it while I was courting my first wife, Janet,” Shields said.

His wife, Mareanne C. Jackson, is an experienced square dance caller and earned a degree in art. “She can do art but does not help me. She is my art critic,” Lysle said.

“I grew up working on the farms whenever I was in Jamestown, Pa.,” he said. He then worked as a busboy at Sands Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. From 1961 to 1982, he served in the U.S. Air Force as a paramedic and in secure communication equipment maintenance.

Shields also worked with secure communication at General Service Administration headquarters in Washington D.C. and at Redstone Arsenal from 1984 to 2002. For 10 years, he owned Shields Art Limited photo studio in Mayland, Tenn.; then traveled around Tennessee for two years; and retired in Madison in 2014.

His associations include Austin Square and Round Dance Association; square dance photographer, dancer and caller; CALLERLAB International; and Madison County Meet-and-Greet Photography. He’s a steam punker.

Shields’ pastimes are geocaching, reading, writing and photography modeling.