Meet Sherri Martel a.k.a. @thesmartsloth

Human artist, creative business owner, expat, mom, and neurospicy #ADHDesigner who loves baking, sharing her art and knowledge, and who (as far as she recalls) has never been a professional wrestler*.

*Google my name, for real

Cultivating creativity through the chaos.

Smart Sloth Creations is a hub for neurodivergent creatives and entrepreneurs to get honest advice, art inspiration, and tips for your business and art practice.

My goal is to fill the world with positive, uplifting art, sometimes with just a hint of sass and wit, and a well placed pun or two.

 

Coming soon: Find my vibrant, unique artwork in the shop. Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know when the store officially launches!

Join my newsletter to be among the first to hear about my store opening, new products, exclusive discounts, and news from my studio. 

Are you in the right place?

Welcome to my little creative corner of the internet – Smart Sloth Creations! If you’ve found me here, hopefully it’s because:

  • my art made you smile
  • you connected with me in a class
  • something my social media caught your eye
  • because you are also an #ADHDesigner – my cheeky little term for artists like myself who are a little neurospicy! 

However you found me, I’m glad you’re here! 

If you want to learn more about starting a creative business while navigating mental health, neurodiversity, and life as an immigrant, mom, and wife, you are absolutely in the right place!

Flashback to 2019, when I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 34In the face of new motherhood and all its unique tests and challenges, all of the subconscious coping strategies I had been leaning on since grade school failed spectacularly, seemingly overnight.

What's the story?

All of a sudden, I could barely cope with the unpredictable day-to-day  experience of taking care of myself and a newborn. Simple things like getting ready to leave the house for a walk became insurmountable tasks. I just couldn’t find enough time and energy in the day, like there was a wall I had to chop down, and where my axe used to be now held only a butter knife and a rubber chicken. 

I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 34.

Once I started to get myself together ...
here comes a pandemic to shatter it all apart again.

Long story short, I was diagnosed with ADHD when my son was almost 2, which was simultaneously a complete shock to me, and also made complete sense. This diagnosis explained almost everything that I had ever struggled with – in school, in my relationships, the choices I’d made, and my career path. Now I had a reason, an explanation… and no idea how to move forward. Then once I started to get myself together, establish new routines, and get some sense of sanity back, here comes a pandemic to shatter it all apart again. 

The realities of 2020 coaxed me back into creativity as a coping mechanism. I discovered watercolors and graphic design and from there, surface design  and I realized, holy crap, THIS is what I should be focusing on!

So I worked to create new routines – establish a structure for success so that the regular hiccups of life didn’t become complete derailments. 

 

Now there are a LOT of good resources out there to learn about managing ADHD. And there are a lot of resources for learning how to build a creative career. But with so many fellow creatives being neurospicy like myself, I have found surprisingly few robust resources that tackle the unique struggles of building a creative business as an #ADHDesigner. 

 

I’m here to change that! 

I have found surprisingly few robust resources that tackle the unique struggles of building a creative business as an #ADHDesigner.

I'm here to change that!

Achievements:

  • I have a specialization in Graphic Design from CalArts via Coursera.
  • Graduate of Bonnie Christine’s 2021 Immersion class

 

But do you know what I consider my biggest achievement? 

 

I’ve stayed committed on this path for over 3 years now.

 

As a chronic hobby dropper and lover of all things new and shiny, this is unprecedented for me. 

an illustration of a woman with short purple hair holding a human-sized Apple Pencil

What's coming:

Blog

A multifaceted space for information on building a creative business.  This is where I’ll share the nitty gritty of my journey to surface design and licensed artist glory! I’ll share: 

  • What works for me as a growing creative entrepreneur (and more importantly what doesn’t) . I’ve had to learn a lot the hard way – now you won have to!
  • Art tutorials
  • Course and learning reviews
  •  Free downloads and resources
  • What I’m working on
  • and much more as my crazy brain comes up with it

If you’re an art director or agent (or you’re just curious), head on over to my portfolio page

My art exists to put on smile on people’s faces, using vibrant natural color palettes, lots of animal and floral motifs, a bit of cheeky humor, and a lot of puns. And sometimes a bug or two.

I have a history in watercolor, then transitioned to digital art in 2021, and I haven’t looked back since!  

Shop - Coming Soon!

Make sure to sign up for my newsletter for special releases and discounts exclusively for subscribers. Be first in line for announcements and new launches! 

 

What have I done? And what am I planning to do?

Sign up for the Smart Sloth newsletter!

Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for my newsletter – monthly updates from my studio and blog, art prompts, follower features, and more! Subscribers hear about new giveaways and product launches before anyone else, and will have access to exclusive freebies, like printables, coloring sheets, curated color palettes and more. 

I will not spam you or sell your email address.   

Become a subscriber!

To follow my surface pattern design journey, hear about new blog posts, and access a growing list of freebies (like coloring pages, art prints, and more) subscribe to my newsletter. I promise not to spam you or send you anything you don’t want to receive. 

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