Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheridan Ellis.
Sheridan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2012, I started my first year of college at Baylor University and had no idea what I wanted to major in. At that point, I had never taken an art class or even expressed a real interest in art aside from doodling here and there so studio art had not even crossed my mind. I took a stab at Communications which was an adventure because public speaking is not my favorite. Needless to say, that was short lived. My sister, Landen, encouraged me to try out studio art. I do not think I would have ever dipped into the art world without my sister’s encouragement.
Second semester of my freshman year, I switched my major to studio art and I never looked back. It wasn’t until my second semester of sophomore year that I took my very first painting class. I knew I wanted to take a painting class for one of my electives but I had no idea how much I would fall in love with it. My first painting was terrible in my opinion but I also have a hard time letting it go because it reminds me of where I started. My professor always encouraged us to do whatever we wanted but he strongly urged us to stay away from portrait paintings. I remember him saying, “This is a beginning class and portraits are very difficult to do so I would like you all to stray away from portraits.” If you know me, you know I usually like to do the opposite of what is encouraged, which I admit is not always smart, but in this case, it worked in my favor. Portraits and landscapes became a recurring subject for me in college and I fell in love with painting.
I ended up taking 3 more painting classes and one advanced painting class even though I stuck with graphic design as my concentration. As a studio art major, they STRONGLY advise you to only take 2 studios a semester to help you manage your workload. I took 4. I would go to the art building for classes at 8am and would not leave until 6:30pm. I would take a one hour dinner break and then head right back to the art building to work on homework until the building closed. It was incredibly challenging but I loved it. I found myself quickly burnt out by graphic design after working hours upon end on my portfolio and I knew by the end of it I did not want to pursue a job in that field. For a year, I lived at home and did freelance work. After a year, I took a staffing job in Dallas so that I could move out and start my professional life with a “real job”. I lasted 8 months at that job and after some strong encouragement from my family and peers, I quit and started accepting commissions full time. I accept the occasional graphic design project here and there but painting has become my main focus.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not. Summer of 2013, I was diagnosed with depression. It was one of the hardest seasons of my life and everyday I would battle the lie that I was not good enough and that I would never be good enough. I will never forget the moment I hit rock bottom my sophomore year. I did not want to wake up in the morning, I was skipping class, I was pushing everyone important to me out of my life and I did not find any joy in creating anything.
One morning, an older girl that someone had connected me with because she too struggled with depression, sent me a verse from the Bible from a passage in Lamentations and it changed everything for me. She sent me Lamentations 3:16-33 (the Message Version) but the last half of the passage was what really stood out to me. (I actually ended up getting the roman numerals from that passage tattooed on my ribs later in college.) From that point on, everything changed. Of course I still struggled with depression but being in the painting studio was where I was able to push out those lies and focus on what made me happy.
I had a professor that told us how “every true artist has at least one or two horror stories.” For me, my horror story happened at the end of my junior year. I had just finished two of my favorite paintings that I have ever done. I was so proud of these paintings and could not wait to get them back to Dallas to show my parents. I had my brother and cousin load the two 5ft x 5ft acrylic on wood pieces up into a truck and I followed in my car about 30 minutes behind them. Well, I was about 30 minutes from my house in Plano when I started seeing hundreds of tiny wood pieces flying past me. Yup. The paintings had flown out and shattered into a million pieces. I still have people message me about the price for those paintings today because they are on my website and it still hurts a little bit every time haha. I am able to laugh about it today but no, it has not been a smooth road.
Sheridan Creative – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
If someone were to ask me what I do, I would say “I am a painter” but, my concentration was in graphic design and I also have a passion for photography. I am super ADD so I love taking on new tasks/trying new things. I have found that the younger crowd that follows me leans more towards my paintings of rappers. I painted a picture of A$AP Rocky in 45 minutes just for fun and got a lot of positive feedback from it on Instagram. I’ve painted a few more since then but recently, I have been focusing more on commission work. I think what sets me apart is the different mediums I have to offer. I have experience with oil painting, acrylic painting, watercolor, photography work, graphic design, etc. I used to get so stressed out about not having a consistent “style” when it came to my paintings but now I think of it more as an advantage because I can offer more than one style to my clients.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’m not sure I have one key moment that stands out but, I do have a few little moments that have been cool throughout the years. I am currently working on a piece for a professional athlete (Dallas Stars hockey player Tyler Seguin) that I am really excited about. In college, I won an award at an art show for a painting and sold my first piece to a stranger shortly after.
I also remember one of my first nights in Dallas, a guy came up to me that I had never met or seen before and said “Wait, are you the girl that painted Wiz Khalifa and then made it into a clock?” When I said “yes,” he freaked out. It was so crazy to me that someone had seen my work outside of my friends and family and the way he went on about how much he loved my work really stood out to me. I had posted an Instagram time-lapse video of my Wiz Khalifa painting and Taylor Gang had commented the fire emoji on that post and shortly after, I had received a few offers for the piece. The guy that recognized me that night in Dallas was one of those offers.
I did a watercolor piece for a client who had lost his brother to cancer earlier this year that really stood out to me. He sent me a beautiful picture that he wanted me to paint for his mom for Mother’s Day and I had so much fun doing it. He sent me pictures of her reaction when she opened it. For an artist, it’s an incredible moment to see someone be moved to tears from something you created. It is always an honor to be able to recreate a memory for someone through a painting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sheridanelizabeth.com/
- Email: Sheridancreative@gmail.com
- Instagram: @sheridanellis @sheridan_creative
- Twitter: @sheridan_ellis
- Other: https://sheridanelizabeth.myportfolio.com/
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
