Margaret Shelton CPE (1915-84) | Featured Artist

×

Expand

Margaret Shelton, “Mount Louis, Banff (#L80a),” 1943

ed. 25/100, second state, three colour linoblock, pulled 1980, 4 x 5 inches (Provenance: BC Collection) (courtesy of the Gallery)

Margaret Shelton's work, inspired by Alberta's built environment and diverse landscapes, is both vital and original, reflecting a deep and intimate connection to her surroundings.

Shelton's contributions to the development of printmaking in Canada are significant, having created hundreds of prints in her career. Her works are in collections at the National Gallery (Ottawa), the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Glenbow Museum (Calgary), where the retrospective exhibit Margaret Shelton: Block Prints 1936-1984 took place after her untimely death in 1984. 

Born on August 15, 1915, on a farm near Bruce, east of Edmonton, Margaret Shelton grew up in the Drumheller Valley of south-central Alberta. From an early age, she displayed a talent for drawing and was encouraged by both her parents and teachers.

In 1933–34, while attending Normal School (a teacher's college in Calgary), she also took evening classes at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA). There, she studied drawing and painting with A.C. Leighton, a renowned English landscape painter. From 1934 to 1943, Shelton attended PITA on scholarships, learning from Leighton, H.G. Glyde, and others. In 1941, she expanded her skills by studying Japanese woodblock printmaking techniques under W.J. Phillips.

Shelton taught school periodically for a few years and briefly worked as a commercial artist at a Toronto advertising agency. Ultimately, she chose to dedicate herself fully to painting and printmaking, establishing a career that would leave a lasting mark on Western Canadian art.