Often likened to the Scottish Colourists, Robertson is fired by a desire to communicate the full intensity of colour found in the natural world, a task to which she believes the palette of oil colours is more suited than the camera, which, she says; "Doesn't capture the range of colour that the human eye can see. A photograph never gets the colour right". Robertson has exhibited in the United States, Sweden and Japan.

The ever changing light in Scotland can pose a challenge to artists. Sheila McLeod Robertson finds that she sometimes paints in watercolour as many as twenty or so small sketches which will help her finish her oil painting back at her studio. "The tide coming in or out can transform a beach so that the scene you start with is quickly replaced. Sometimes that can create a more interesting view and my canvas will reflect that change. At other times I prefer the original aspect and I then refer to my watercolour sketches."

Sheila McLeod Robertson is a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. Not only does she exhibit at their London exhibition each summer, she also gives master classes. Sheila, now in her seventies, is not content with attending in a teaching capacity, she often sits in on other artist's classes. She says, "You are never too old to learn something new. Life would be very boring if we stopped learning"