A serious illness, a twist of fate and a chain of events, not unlike any other beginning to a “fairy tale”, unless you happen to be a 42 year old “mere mortal”!

For Sharon “Dee” Shaughnessy, life was, as most people refer to it, normal. A Southern California native, who traveled extensively, she had just returned to her beloved Gulf Coast late in 1992.

Home to Dee, the quiet beauty and slow pace of the enchanting coast seemed almost to whisper something wonderful was about to take place, little did she know!

As a professional photographer suddenly faced with a serious illness, her new studio and once peaceful life now seemed far more than simply challenged! 

It would be one of her very last clients, one on a tight budget, that would forever alter the course of Dee’s life, how could she have known what lay ahead, impossible!

And so, late in the summer of 92 while preparing for what may be a long illness, Dee would pick up the “clay”, a payment in trade for a “last” photo shoot, a payment she had privately scoffed at! And to her, looking back on that day now, God surely must have been smiling directly at her!

At 42, art was the last profession Dee would have ever imagined fact was she had only taken six weeks of art in the ninth grade switching then to science.

And that is where the fairy tale began, the illness, quite serious, was thankfully fixed by surgery and it was while recovering, clay in hang, Dee would discover what she was destine to be!

A natural born artist! She is self taught and truly “gifted”, having won numerous awards for her unique work which can be seen in galleries, juried, shows, museums and private collections throughout the US and abroad.

Fueled by endless energy and imagination, she is able to capture “emotion”, whether it is reflected in the brave and wonderful faces of her Native American series “Echoes of a Nation” or tenderly portrayed in the sensitive and beautiful series of miniature nudes titled “Angels and Lovers”!

An avid miniaturist, Dee is extremely proud of her juried membership in the prestigious Miniature Art Society of Florida, the National Association of Women Artists INC., NY. And her position as International Show Chair/2nd VP for Women Artist of the West. She is also founding director of Signature 16 Miniature Artists Society.

Considering her talent both gift and privilege, one she gives back every chance she gets, she never ceases to marvel at the wonderful world she is now a part of and to actively promote both art and artists who continue to set the standards of truly “fine art”!

Select International Exhibitions:

2000 The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers

Exhibition November 10-19th, 2000 Westminster Central Hall-Storeys Gate, London

2000 International World Exhibition of Miniature Art / The World

Federation of Miniaturists, September 2, 2000 Hobart, Australia

*Invited Artist 2000 Lillian Berkley Collections Gallery / WAOW Annual Exhibition, Escondido, CA

2000 Snow Goose Gallery Miniature Invitational, Bethlehem, PA

*Invited Artist 98'-01' Miniature Art Society of Florida, Tampa, FL

99-01' Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, D.C., Annual International Exhibition of Fine Art Miniatures

98'-00' Masters in Miniature, Gallery One Mentor, OH *Invited Artist

98'-00' 7th-8th International Miniature Art Show, Seaside Art Gallery Nags Head, N.C.

Annual Western Spirit Juried Art Show, Cheyenne, WY

Art Against Aids", Stricoffs Gallery, New York City, NY *Invited Artist

National Association of Women Artists INC. Exhibition, Morani Gallery, Philadelphia, PA *Invited Artist

Art of the Doll, Edith Lambert Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M. Award 2nd & 3rd

Place Sculpture *Invited Artist

Selected Awards:

99'-00' Award Recipient Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society, Washington, D.C./ Elected into MPS&GS membership, 2000 "O WOMAN 99 "

2000' Award Recipient, 8th International Miniature Art Show, Seaside Gallery, Nags Head, N.C. "HEAVENLY"

98' Meyers Award, Best Wall Relief, Bosque Conservatory 13th Annual Fine Art Juried Exhibition, Clifton,TX "ANGELS & LOVERS"

98' Best of Show Sculpture, G.E. Ohr Museum-Gulf Coast Invitational Biloxi, MS "BRAVEHEART"

98' Award Recipient 2nd Annual Artist's Atelier of Atlanta, Atlanta ,GA " O WOMAN 98'

97' First Place, Annual Juried Miniature Exhibition, El Dorado Gallery, CO, "ECHOES of a NATION "

97' Silver Medal, International Exhibition, Women Artists of the West, Inc., Biloxi,MS "GUARDIAN"

96' Peoples Choice Award, IDEX, Dallas, TX "PROPHET"