Sheli Petersen

Contact

mpetersen1@twu.edu
940-898-2543
ART 106B

Website

Biography

With over 20 years experience teaching graphic design and illustration at colleges in New England and the Midwest, Professor Sheli Petersen brings a wide range of skills to Texas Woman’s University, including design, typography, art direction, illustration, animation, 2D game art, and fine art.

Petersen’s current professional practice centers around children’s book design and illustration into which she weaves her long-standing interests in nature, history, and mythological themes. Her clients include Cricket Media, McGraw-Hill, Highlights for Children Magazine, and the National Heritage Museum. She exhibits her work regionally, nationally, and internationally at venues such as the Danforth Museum of Art (Boston area) and Creative Quarterly.

Using an interdisciplinary and researched-focused methodology in her pedagogy, Petersen emphasizes the role every member of society plays in creating and interpreting visual media. She engages students by teaching a communal approach to problem-solving and leadership, which offers emerging designers and artists the expertise and motivation to achieve their own goals in the service of others.

Education

M.F.A., Illustration, Savannah College of Art and Design
B.F.A., Design, Missouri State University

Artistic Interests

Children's Book Design and Illustration; Character Design; Art Direction; Typography; Print and Web Design; Animation; Mythology; Multiculturalism; Social Justice; Western and Non-Western Art History; Literature; Music; Wildlife and Natural History

Creative Actitivies

2024 Marvelous Midwest Conference (2020)
Published Illustration | Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators

Drawing as Seeing--One-person exhibition (2020)
Exhibition Solo | Rivier University

Two-person exhibition - recent works (2019)
Exhibition Group | Grey Fox Mercantile, New Hartford, NY

Illustrations for Japanese folktale (2018)
Creative Publication | Faces Magazine (for middle-grade readers) - Published by Cricket Media

Logo Design (2018)
Design | Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, NE Chapte

Professional Affiliations

• AIGA, American Institution of Graphic Arts
• The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Honors & Awards

• July 2023 Featured Illustrator, Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (2023)
• Portfolio Showcase, Society of Children's Books Writers & Illustrators - North Texas (2022)
• Bill Armstrong Memorial Award, Watercolor USA (2021)
• Portfolio Showcase - Honorable Mention, Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators - New England Chapter (2019)
• Portfolio Showcase, Society of Children's Books Writers (2018)
• Illustrators Intensive, Society of Children's Books Writers (2017)