Meet Patrick Sullivan, the mature student finally realising his artistic ambition despite facing adversity along the way
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
THE man in question is different things to different people. Patrick Sullivan is a husband and a father to four girls. He served in the army and spent decades in manual employment, yet it has taken an entire working lifetime for him to pursue his passion for art.
I went to speak to Patrick about the journey to getting to this point of creative satisfaction.
My first thought upon meeting him is that it is no surprise how he has been so patient and resilient in chasing his dream.
He’s eager to greet, warming in his reception. Talkative from the off, he wastes no time diving into his favourite topic, art. A few moments pass and it feels like I am talking to an old friend.
Patrick’s story is unique and is a reminder to both young and old to never let go of your aspirations and talents because you never know when dream can turn to reality.
When he took the drawing to the antique dealers, they said ‘forget the chair, who did the drawing?’
Patrick Sullivan
HUMBLE ORIGINS AND THE FIRST SPARK
Patrick grew up in Rumney on a council estate and left school with no formal qualifications at the age of 16.
Yet Patrick’s enjoyment of the experience wasn’t ruined by this and looking back he sees signs of the inner artist becoming apparent.
“In school, I used to do the drawing for a friend of mine as he couldn’t draw but I couldn’t do the painting at that time, so I’d do the drawings and pass them to him, and he’d do the paintings and pass them to me! We had a good system going there,” exclaims Patrick.
His personal life was hit hard when his father suffered a triple bypass. Patrick’s upbeat nature shines through as he reflects on the situation positively, associating a happy story with this.
His father had wished to sell an antique chair but due to his health, he was unable to transport the item to the saleroom.
“It was a Victorian style, antique chair,” Patrick recounts. “As he couldn’t get the chair across there, he asked me to draw it for him to show the antique dealers.
“When he took the drawing to the antique dealers, they said: ‘forget the chair, who did the drawing?’”
With this, Patrick laughs, and I can instantly see how much this memory of both his father and the birth of his love for drawing means to him.
After both anecdotes are told to me, it soon becomes clear that he had deduced from a young age that the talent was definitely there.
I was 18 when I joined and although I only served for three years, it was still an eye opener at that age.
Patrick Sullivan
ARMY, WORK AND FAMILY LIFE
In 1978, Patrick enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Wales, following in the military footsteps of both his father and grandfather. The latter of which being Denis Sullivan, a World War One hero who by the age of 20 had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal for gallantry.
“I was 18 when I joined and although I only served for three years, it was still an eye opener at that age,” says Patrick.
In those three years Patrick did two tours of Hong Kong, where he was attached to the Parachute Regiment for six months, as well as going to serve in Canada and Northern Ireland.
“It was very physical with the running, digging trenches and using rifles but I learnt discipline and time management,” he says.
Patrick’s time in the army was cut short though in 1981 due to sustaining an injury.
“In Northern Ireland, my sergeant pulled me through a fence, dislocating my shoulder,” he reveals.
In 1983, Patrick met his wife, Lynne, after she interviewed him for a job at HB Switchgear where he worked for 23 years.
He tells me that: “She had said to the director about me but told me to lose the choppy earring that I had in at the time!”
Patrick went on to raise a family with Lynne but still struggled to find the time for his creative passion.
The difficulty of moving from Merthyr to Met was like going from the Vauxhall Conference to the Premier League!
Patrick Sullivan
REALISING THE DREAM
Upon leaving HB Switchgear in 2006, he went to work for a smart metering company for seven years, leaving at the age of 55.
This is when it all changed for Patrick and the opportunity to finally chase his dream arose.
“My daughter said why don’t you go to art school dad? I said to her I’m too old, but she checked, and you can go before you’re 60 so with that I applied to Cardiff Metropolitan University,” he says.
As he recounts this story to me, I can hear the disbelief in his voice that he felt when the suggestion of going to university was raised to him. But with that the shock, happiness was also present, recognising that this long-standing aspiration no longer had to wait in the wings, gathering dust.
Needing to attain a foundation, Patrick attended Merthyr Tydfil College for two years. It was here where he met tutor and inspiration Martin Jones.
“I brought all my drawings along, but he said that he didn’t need to see them because I would find something I enjoyed. With foundation, you do is a bit of everything. Collage, ceramics, painting, linocuts and printmaking,” Patrick recalls.
Mr Jones clearly broadened Patrick’s artistic horizons by showing him that other forms of art were available.
In 2017 he moved to Cardiff Met and began his Fine Art BA in year two due to his foundation.
Patrick remembers: “It was quite a large class of 100, there was lots of people. I didn’t find many mature students.
“The difficulty of moving from Merthyr to Met was like going from the Vauxhall Conference to the Premier League!”
Patrick struggled initially with the theory and after doing a test at Met, he found out he had dyslexia.
Even with this latest setback, Patrick’s determination powered him through to graduation in 2019. This resolve stands as a true reflection of this artist’s character.
I love to work with my hands and enjoy the physical aspect of creating linocuts. It’s a form of self-expression
Patrick Sullivan
THE PRESENT
In the new year, Patrick is set to restart his Fine Art MFA at Met which has been delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
In the past couple of years, he has created his own art of special places in Cardiff which represent a personal story.
The Millennium Centre is where he and his daughters graduated, Cardiff Castle is where his grandfather’s war medals are kept, and Roath Park Lake is where he took his family to the boating lake.
Patrick says: “There is a strong link between my practice and psychogeography. This is the behavioural impact of an urban place. It implies the character or atmosphere of a place, rather than its practical use.”
To achieve this effect, Patrick uses linocut with a process of drawing, cutting, inking and finally pressing to create his works.
“I love to work with my hands and enjoy the physical aspect of creating linocuts through cutting and gauging the surface to produce lines, shapes, and colours. It’s a form of self-expression,” he explains.
Patrick’s path to this point has been anything but quick and simple but his story stands as a firm reiteration of striving to make your dreams a reality, showing that if the talent is there, it’s never too late to try.
If you’re interested in following Patrick’s path further or purchasing any of his pieces, you can contact him on Instagram @patricksullivan_art or visit his website www.patricksullivanart.wordpress.com.
