Louis Shields was a natural artist from a very early age.  He studied art throughout school and later studied painting at the University of Alabama.
He became a fashion designer in San Francisco and in the 70’s opened a boutique of his own designs on Fifth Avenue in New York.  He later moved to London where he lived for eleven years.  He became an expert on antiques’ restoration, and had a successful antiques business in London for many years.  During this period he restored three houses from the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries.  In 1981, he returned to the U.S. and opened Hastening Antiques Ltd. in Middleburg, Va., specializing in 18th century European furniture, and offering interior design services. Throughout, he continued to draw, etch, and paint.  His current works are influenced by a lifetime’s experience in classical architecture, the structural form of traditional furniture and the subtle colors of antiquity.