Sitting Down With Artist, Instagram Star, and New Author, Riley Sheehey

This week we are honored to sit down with Riley Sheehey, a watercolor and multimedia artist based in Falls Church, Virginia. Riley just announced that her first book, “Modern Motherhood” will be published on March 25, 2025, and is available for preorder now. In our chat Riley told us all about her transition from being an elementary school art teacher to being a full time professional artist, life at home with her dog, Stevie and her daughter, Bryn, and of course the process of writing her new book.

Tell us about your new book. We’re so excited for you!

According to her publisher, Riley’s book is “Originally inspired by Delft tiles, the 400+-year-old blue and white pottery from the Netherlands.”

Thank you so much! I am really excited about it, too! Modern Motherhood is a series of 100 blue and white watercolor illustrations, inspired by antique Delft tiles, depicting scenes of caretaking. I started the series in early 2023, and realized quickly that the idea resonated with people, so it’s been a great experience to be able to continue it through working on the book! It will be published by Abrams March 25, 2025, but just went up for preorder.

How has motherhood changed your life?

In every way! With work, I feel more creative, but have less time to work, and so it has helped me set better boundaries so that I can protect the time I have at work and to spend with my daughter.

What was the writing journey like for you?

The book doesn’t have too much writing aside from an intro and short captions, but those were the hardest parts for me, because I’m used to painting a lot, but not writing as much. My editor and literary agent were so helpful with providing guidance for this part.

Before you were an artist full time, you were an elementary school art teacher. How did you transition careers?

Very slowly! It’s a boring answer, but once I felt that I had more work than I had time to complete, I spoke with my principal, who kindly helped me scale back my teaching schedule so that I had a sort of “trial” period for about six months to see what one full day each week as a professional artist would look like. Once I was able to save up some money and make it work financially, I finished out the school year, and transitioned to full-time art.

You’ve done some exciting collaborations with some big clothing and retail brands. Do you have a favorite collab so far?

Thank you so much! Honestly, I feel so lucky to have been able to work on each one, so I genuinely don’t have a favorite, but I would say that for me, the most fulfilling partnerships have been ones where the expectations have been really clear from the get-go, so I’ve been able to ensure that I can provide what the other brand is looking for! 

Tell us your card painting project. How did that come about?

I think I painted my first couple in 2021, when I was going through a tough pregnancy with my daughter and in a creative rut- I couldn’t come up with ideas for something new to watercolor, so I looked around the room for a new surface to paint on, and landed on some playing cards. In the years since, I’ve painted a card or two (they are a really great painting surface because of the texture!) each year, but this is the first year I’ve painted one per week. I painted one right before the new year- my daughter was on winter break and I had limited time to make something during her nap!- and I will always be very grateful to the stranger on IG who messaged me that 52 weeks = 52 cards, and so it would be fun to paint one per week. 

Riley, above with her dog, Stevie, tells TOC, “We got Stevie when she was 8 weeks old, in early 2018, so in so many ways, I feel like we have grown up together (she has been through a new home, a wedding, a baby, etc. with us). She makes me laugh every day- she has a lot of cat-like mannerisms, which we always get a kick out of.” (Photo Credit: @abbygracephotography)

Tell us about your dog, Stevie.

We got Stevie when she was 8 weeks old, in early 2018, so in so many ways, I feel like we have grown up together (she has been through a new home, a wedding, a baby, etc. with us). She makes me laugh every day- she has a lot of cat-like mannerisms, which we always get a kick out of. She absolutely ADORES my husband- even though I was the one who made the initial decision to get a dog, she is definitely Dylan’s dog- when he is home, she is within a few feet of him.

Did life with Stevie shift after having your daughter? What felt challenging? What felt beautiful?

Honestly, we’ve been really lucky, in that the shift was pretty seamless- at the beginning stages especially, we made sure that we took time (well, usually Dylan, haha) to take Stevie on walks or play ball with her so that she never felt left out. Because Stevie is so small (she is about 7lb last we checked) we do have to monitor to make sure Bryn is gentle with her- Bryn just sometimes gets so excited that she forgets! Bryn really loves Stevie, and Stevie loves and wants to protect Bryn (but sometimes she acts like she only tolerates her, ha!).

If someone in our community wants to get started with painting do you have recs for how they can learn?!

I feel like there are so many great online resources for this- I have a few materials lists/tutorials in the Journal section of my website, but I also love good old-fashioned hard-copy books. I would just say not to worry about having the right materials at the start- just get started!

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