Sheila Robinson

(1925-1988)

heila Robinson was a British illustrator, printmaker, and designer associated with the post-war generation of British printmakers linked to Great Bardfield and the Royal College of Art. Born in Nottingham, she studied at Nottingham School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art, where she was taught by Edward Bawden and John Nash. One of her student projects, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, was entirely hand-drawn, lettered, and bound. In 1952 Robinson moved to Great Bardfield, Essex, with her husband, the artist Bernard Cheese. She became closely associated with Edward Bawden, assisting him on the mural for the Lion and Unicorn Pavilion at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and later printing plates for one of his children’s books. Alongside commercial commissions for Schweppes, London Transport, and BBC publications, Robinson developed a distinctive body of lino cuts and illustrations depicting Great Bardfield, Istanbul, rural life, and her much-loved cats. Robinson worked with Curwen Studio during the formative years of post-war British lithography, contributing to the wider revival of artist-led printmaking associated with Stanley Jones and the Curwen Press. Her work remains notable for its clarity of line, decorative composition, and inventive approach to narrative printmaking.