We recently connected with Patricia Sheridan and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Patricia , thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Do you ever feel that you should do something, and the universe keeps giving you signs? I call those moments whispers and believe you should listen to them.
In 2020 I decided my word of the year would be courage and how I would focus on being courageous in my business, personal life, and soon-to-be marriage. We all know 2020 brought a complete stop to the world and a lot of pain and suffering to many. It also brought me face to face with deciding to get a restraining order against my birth brother, who believed my adoption family had brainwashed me and that without him in my life, I would be punished by God. For years I allowed him to poke at my worth and invade my life without telling anyone because I felt ashamed to build a better life for myself and suffered from survivor guilt. Guilt from early childhood abuse, which unfolded into the foster care system, where they split us up and sent our lives in two different directions. My life went down a path of adoption and one surrounded with love and nurturing while he faced behavioral homes and pills. The last time we spoke was when I was a junior in high school, and I didn’t hear from him again until after I lost my mom at age twenty-one. He found my number somehow, and after innocently picking the phone up one night, I had let him back into my life without realizing it.
The mental abuse I faced for over a decade from him had reached its peak in 2020, and I couldn’t hide what he was doing to me. He tore me down in every aspect of my life and made me feel like a fraud for existing. I was afraid of my shadow, thinking it was him coming to punish me for setting boundaries. After turning to family and friends and having to put my business on hold while the restraining order went through, I realized I wasn’t in the best mindset to run a business. So I did something risky: put down my paintbrush, picked up a computer, and began my memoir. For two years, I poured my soul into a book and let myself be vulnerable. It took a few therapists, tears galore, and late-night dancing in my garage to help me process everything I had been through, but it was all worth it. I thought if I could do it, others could, and I hoped to inspire others from my story who found themselves in a similar situation. For two years, I stepped away from everything I built, and my audience and followers respected that decision and sent so much love that it made taking such a significant risk a little easier.
My brand was no longer relevant in the stationery community, and I watched my friends blossom into their calling while I sat behind a computer typing. There were moments of grief because I felt like I had let go of a path I had worked so hard to build, but there was also this whisper in me to keep going and not lose focus on my track.
So I hired an editor, and after four exhausting rewrites, we decided it was almost good to go. It still has a few more edits, but for now, I have started on the illustration for the book, and the whole memoir should be out mid-2023.
Was the risk of putting my paintbrush down and focusing on something else worth it? Totally. The person who grew that business is still me, and I know I can do it again, but this time I’m not letting someone secretly tear me down as I write the next chapter of my life. While I no longer fit into the stationery community, my following hasn’t given up on me. They are excited about my book, and have watched me grow into a new person these last few years.
While the outcome of my book is one for future conversations, I am at a place where no matter what, I know it will turn out okay. That my business will be just fine because I wrote a touching, hard-hitting memoir that combines the facts and sadness of life growing up through the foster care system with lessons from hindsight, right up to the present moment. Gel Pen Flowers is a true story of turning lemons into lemonade and falling in love with the little girl who reclaimed her worth. This story is about overcoming adversity through defiant joy, ADHD superpowers, and the healing practice of creating art.
A story I know many from all communities can relate to and one that makes taking a risk this remarkable worth it.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My creative journey started when my foster parents gifted me a paint set at six years old. From there, I was painting galore. When I was adopted, my foster parents encouraged my mom to keep me creating, and she did just that. Growing up, I could access any medium and wall in our house. My mom made a safe environment to explore my process, and I was confident I wanted to turn my creative journey into a career the day I licensed my first piece in 2018.
One thing about me is that I’m ridiculously optimistic, and honestly, I’m okay with it and love looking at the glass half full. That positive and optimistic outlook comes in handy when creating content for a local university’s Pinterest page and working with clients to bring their vision to life for my brand. My designs are bright, energetic, full of life, and all-around joyful! I’m known for my nature-inspired hint of retro pop art and grounded creations. I love using fluid curves and creating something that tells classicism with a twist when I get a chance.
I offer stationery inspired by real people and delightful custom paintings while also spreading the word on a positive mindset and speaking about the focus on viability. My goal is not only to inspire people to keep working towards their goals but for them to know that they are truly magic. As someone who has gone through a lot of traumatic experiences, I know what it’s like to be at a point where nothing but darkness surrounds you, and I’m here to let people know that place doesn’t have to win. That no matter what, they have the power to create a beautiful life.
I think that is what I’m most proud of regarding my brand and the work I’m creating and giving the world. When starting my business, I knew I wanted to inspire others to create beauty but felt lost on where to start. However, after overcoming so much, I believe it showed me my calling: to encourage people to believe in themselves and to plant a seed of love that can blossom into a life they deserve.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Artists and creatives bring magic to a world that often feels overbearing and being part of a community that helps spread something so beautiful is nothing but filling. We are creating beauty and worlds for others to see, and that’s incredible.
Through art, we can immerse ourselves and see what another person feels and witnesses, and in a world full of chatter, it can remind us to slow down and be in the moment.
The creative journey itself is so rewarding, and I hope anyone thinking of trying painting, writing, sculpting, or anything will do it because they won’t regret it.
: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Oh, for sure! I want to create a life that feels like poetry, encompassed by so much love and beauty that my great-grandchildren know anything is possible. The hard work and late hours I am putting in now are for my children and future generations. It’s to create something so beautiful that even when I’m gone, they know they can do anything no matter what life throws at them because they are strong. My foundation came from resilience and determination, with a dash of stubbornness sculpted for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: patriciasheridan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patriciasheridans/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-sheridan-66829585/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/isthatpatricia
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/PatriciaSheridans/