Meet Sophie Fernandez | Artist, Muralist, Maker of Stickers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sophie Fernandez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophie, why did you pursue a creative career?
I was always creative, even when I was little. I definitely was privileged enough to have very supportive parents who encouraged my artistic side and always supported my dream to be an artist. I don’t know of a time when I wasn’t creating or making something and if I did stop making things, it was probably a very challenging time in my life.

As an adult, it only felt right to be in a creative field, and getting my BFA with an emphasis in painting solidified that, While in college, I was surrounded by creative people that supported and encouraged the dream of being an artist. During my time at Metropolitan State University of Denver, I was able to be hired as a muralist and sold artwork while attending. This sparked something inside of me that really never died out, I think it was the motivation to be able to truly see a way to make being an artist a solid career. I have been chasing that dream ever since. Surprisingly, as I am progressing on this journey, I am finding the possibilities of this dream to be more abundant than I was originally led to believe.

I will sometimes be creating artwork for clients or designing a mural and the thought of “Oh yeah, wait, I’m getting paid to do this!” goes through my head. Its an incredible feeling. That is what really keeps me motivated to keep pursuing my dream to be a full time professional artist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So I make silly, cute and eclectic art. I consider my self a mixed media artist with my preferred mediums to be watercolor, pastel, ink and digital drawings. I love to experiment with different mediums though, so there is a lot of trial and error that happens in my art cave. My work is inspired by so many things, I often feel like my brain is a literal Pinterest board with everything I see that is unique, interesting and weird and I draw form those things when creating artwork.

I have several outlets for my creativity, some of them are designing and painting murals, making commissioned artwork, graphic design work and making stickers for my online shop The Paper Ghost. My secret to being a successful artist is to diversify my talent to multiple streams of income. It also helps with keeping me interested in what I’m making I tend to get bored easily or distracted by new projects, so these creative avenues keep me inspired.

I definitely feel like I am in a midway point in my career, having taken many small steps to get here. It took a lot of courage, flexibility, research to get to this point. I always have to remember that to climb a mountain it takes one step at a time, you don’t just sprint up a fourteener.

Being an artist is probably one of the harder careers to accomplish. After attending college, I had the confidence that I could make good art, but to actually practice being one in the real world takes a lot of guts. You have to put yourself out there, you have to not be afraid of criticism, trolls and people who would say you were foolish for wanting this career. My advice for artists that are struggling to make the leap: Take it one step at a time, try new things and surround yourself with other artists on the same path as you (whether IRL or online). Artists are sometimes solitary people, but honestly, the best thing I ever did was establish friendships with other artists that are just as motivated and supportive as I am.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The Pueblo Riverwalk for antique shopping, amazing coffee and great food choices. Plus you can see the progress of our Levee Mural Project, there is so much great artwork being painted down there!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout all of my amazing supporters-my family, friends, patrons on Patreon and my lovely followers on Instagram. I have been so lucky to have had such an amazing response to my artwork ever since I started up my art Instagram page in 2019. Thank you to all of you who have been such big supporters of local artists, it means the world to us!

Website: The Paper Ghost Sticker Shop: https://the-paper-ghost.myshopify.com

Instagram: @signal.of.spirit

Other: Tik Tok: @signalofspirit Threads: signal.of.spirit

Image Credits
photos taken by Sophie Fernandez