Painter and draughtsman, whose acrylic on linen paintings and charcoal drawings, portraits and still lifes, in their attention to detail, craftsmanship and fine finish indicated a debt to the Old Masters. Shields gained a fine arts honours degree at the University of Ulster, 1981–5, adding a teaching certificate, art and design, 1988–9. He won an Ulster Television award for outstanding work by an artist under 30, 1990; was a Winsor & Newton Young Artist Award finalist, 1992; won an Abbey Stained Glass Studios Award, RHA, Dublin, 1994; and in 1995, the year he gained his associated diploma from the RUA, obtained the Anderson’s Auctioneers & Valuers Prize there. Group shows included RUA from 1987; Cavehill Gallery, Belfast, from 1990; RI, 1992; ROI from 1992; RA from 1993; and BP Portrait Award Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, from 1994.