Millard Owen Sheets, 81; Artist, Designer and Teacher

Southern California-born artist Millard Owen Sheets, whose career as a painter, muralist, teacher, author and architectural designer spanned more than 60 years, died Friday at his home on the Mendocino coast at age 81.

Sheets, a child prodigy who became known as the father of the California Watercolor School, had been ill for several years, but as recently as two years ago he completed a large painted mural for the Civic Center in Lubbock, Tex., and continued to exhibit in one-man shows.

His work, produced from age 16, when he exhibited at the Laguna Beach Art Assn. in 1923, hangs in 46 museums and 15 states nationwide. He created more than 100 murals and mosaics and designed about 100 buildings during his long career. He was especially known for landscapes of places around the world.

‘Man of Many Talents’

“As a man of many talents, Millard Sheets has influenced the art world for over 60 years,” said William G. Otton, director of the Laguna Beach Museum of Art. “By incorporating good design, a love of life and a thorough understanding of art history, his artistic efforts have contributed significantly to American society.”

Sheets once said that “life is infinite in its ability to arouse us.”

“I lead workshops and talk about ‘love,’ and they wonder what I’m talking about--until they realize it is at the heart of life and painting,” he said.

Born in Pomona in 1907, Sheets was graduated from Chouinard School of Art in 1939 and helped guide early development of art programs at Southern California colleges. After joining Scripps College as an art professor, he went on to head the college’s art department for 20 years.

Was War Correspondent

He also served for 18 years as director of art at Claremont Graduate School and director of the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles from 1950-56.

During World War II, Sheets worked as a war correspondent for Life magazine in the India-Burma Theater. In the early 1960s, he traveled to Turkey and the Soviet Union for the U.S. State Department as an American art specialist.

Sheets demonstrated his talents in several mediums beside water colors, including etchings, lithographs, mosaics and frescoes. The buildings he designed include the Scottish Rite Memorial temples in both Los Angeles and San Francisco; the Ahmanson Bank & Trust Co. in Beverly Hills; several Home Savings and Loan Assn. buildings, and the downtown Pomona Mall.

He created murals and mosaics for buildings for more than 30 years. They included the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota; Notre Dame University at South Bend, Ind.; the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and the City Hall Annex in Los Angeles.

Produced Books

He wrote “The Los Angeles Art Community,” in 1977, and “Your Drawing Is a Measure of Your Mind” in 1983.

Besides his wife, Mary, he leaves four children, Owen of Hilo, Hawaii; Carolyn Owen-Towle of San Diego; David Stary-Sheets of Gualala, Calif., and Tony of Sebastopol, Calif.

Arrangements are pending for a memorial service to be held in San Diego.