Painter, etcher, illustrator, muralist. Born in Pomona, CA on June 24, 1907. After graduating form Pomona High School, Sheets enrolled at the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles (1925-29) where he was a pupil of Chamberlin and Hinkle. He further studied with Theodore Modra. After traveling and painting in Europe, he taught at Chouinard from 1929-34 and in 1948. During the 1920s and 1930s he came into national focus with his regionalist scenes similar to those of Thomas Hart Benton. He was an art professor and director at Scripps College from 1934-54 and then spent six years as director of the Otis Art Institute. In 1960, Sheets moved north to the Mendocino coast where he built his dream home "Barking Rocks" in Gualala. He lived there until his death on March 31, 1989. Although his style varied over the years, his works remained representational and are mostly landscapes inspired by California and his world travels. As an architectural designer and muralist, he produced over 100 murals and mosaics and designed a like number of buildings including the Home Savings & Loan buildings throughout California.

Member : California Art Club; California Watercolor Society (President 1946-47).

Exhibited : Dalzell Hatfield Gallery, 1929 (first solo); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1930; Oakland Art Gallery, 1932; Foundation of Western Art, 1936;New York World Fair, 1939; Golden Gate International Exhibition, 1939; Pasadena Art Institute, 1950 (solo); Metropolitan Museum, 1966; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1939; and many others.

Awards : First prize, amateur division, Los Angeles County Fair, 1918; Dolphin Award, American Watercolor Society, 1987; dozens of others.

Works held : 46 museums in the U.S.; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Art; Scripps College; White House, Washington, DC; San Diego Museum; Los Angeles Public Library; Metropolitan Museum; Brooklyn Museum; Cleveland Museum; Smithsonian Institute; Seattle Art Museum; de Young Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Whitney Museum; National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; High Museum, Atlanta; San Jose Airport (mural), CA; Pasadena Jr. High School.

(Source: Hughes, Edan Milton, "Artists in California: 1786-1940," San Francisco: Hughes Publishing Company, 1989.)