Breakthrough

Although Sherree was gradually building an enviable reputation on the contemporary art scene, it was in the summer of 1986 that she got her first big break. Whilst painting the cricketers at a local match she was spotted by a member of the MCC, and this led to her being commissioned to paint the Ashes at all the test grounds. During this season she became a regular fixture on the BBC; every time play was suspended due to rain the commentary team would focus on the damp and windswept figure heroically taking on the British weather in the cause of her art. She recalls an occasion when she was painting on a roof and a howling gale was continually blowing her equipment over. She went and banged on a window which was opened by a charming gentleman who bent over backwards to find her a rope and secure her easel to a table leg while keeping up a stream of entertaining conversation. She was later told by friends that they had enjoyed hearing her hilarious interview with Brian Johnston on Radio 4's "Test Match Special". She also had a rather heated exchange with Freddie Trueman about the correct positioning of the fielders in one of her paintings, not realizing at the time that he was a total cricketing legend – the original Freddie.

From cricket, Sherree moved on to the British social calendar, sensing that here was a subject that would give her everything she needed to create satisfying artwork. She wrote to the organizers of Henley and Ascot to see if they would allow her to paint on site, and having seen her work they welcomed her with open arms. The only problem was that the strict dress codes were rather inconvenient for an artist who believed in freedom of movement and made rather free with her paint brush. In the end she compromised and they settled for a specially made artist's apron in a Laura Ashley print, designed both to protect her clothes and to cover her knees. Modesty and creativity were happily allowed to co-exist.

Sherree had first encountered her husband to be, the artist Mark Rowbotham, at art college, but it wasn't until they met nearly 10 years later that a romance was kindled. With typical spontaneity they married after a whirlwind courtship and set up home together in a beautiful old rectory in Surrey. They had their first child, Charlie quite soon after they were married, but both continued to paint in order to pay the mortgage. Over the next 10 years, three more children, Lettice, Bunty and Felicity, were born and Sherree's life became a chaotic affair juggling school runs and nativity plays with celebrity portraits and Royal Ascot. Although from the outside her life looked perfect – tremendous artistic success for both herself and Mark, a very happy and talented young family, a beautiful home and of course an extremely glamorous lifestyle – she did at times feel a little hard done by when other young mothers were planning to meet for lunch or coffee mornings while she had to hurry back for a sitting or to finish a painting. This phase was short-lived however. With all the children at school and Mark working from his own studio locally, the pressure eased; Days spent in the studio became the norm once more, and has remained her life's work ever since.

Alongside her hectic schedule of commissions, exhibitions, TV work, days on location, portrait sittings, and charity work, Sherree has found the time to run a life class for over twenty years. When she herself was starting out she took every chance to paint from life and she feels strongly that these studies are as essential to her work as scales would be to a concert pianist. Running the class has given her the chance to continue to work in this way, while passing on some of her expertise to students whom she believes benefit greatly from acquiring the fundamental skill of honest life drawing. It has also brought her face-to-face with some amazing characters. If they were ever let down by a model she would ask for volunteers from the local old peoples' home, and one of the elderly gentlemen who sat for her was a survivor of HMS Hood - the largest battleship in the world in 1920 - when it was sunk in the famous engagement with the German battleship Bismarck.