Loreto House Creative feat. Josephine Freitas, owner of Heart on Paper

How to find Heart on Paper

Loreto House Creative is excited to share our latest contributor!

Josephine Freitas, is the owner of **Heart Stuck on Paper**, a Catholic Artist sharing her passion for depicting Catholic art of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Saints. As an artist Josephine feels called to share what is good, true, beautiful, and direct that towards our Father in Heaven.

Without further delay, let’s dive right in to Josephine’s contribution!

A little bit about Emma:

“My name is Josephine, and I am the owner of Heart Stuck on Paper. I grew up in Dallas, and I am the second oldest in a large Catholic family. Growing up, my mom noticed I had a passion for art as she herself was an artist. She put me in classes, and I fell in love with the art community! Middle school was when my joy for creating grew. I enjoyed experimenting with each medium, especially pencil drawing, painting, and mixed media. After high school, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. I choose to pursue art in college, but I was unsure what to do with the degree. Two years of school had passed when I decided college was not a place where I wanted to invest my resources and energy. After much thought and prayer, starting an art business was the next step for me. Owning a business meant that I could cultivate my passion, use my gifts, and share my artwork with others. It took lots of work and diligence to officially launch my small business, which opened in April 2022.”

Who is your fav Saint and what's the one way you've kept Christ in your business?

“I can't choose just one! My two favorite saints are St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Dymphna! St.Therese is my patron saint, and I am confident that she has kept me in her prayers. I relate to Therese in how she suffered greatly with her health as a young woman. I have struggled with chronic illness since I was a pre-teen, and in seeing how she constantly showed up for Christ is a great example. Even through her suffering, Therese continually humbled herself and made herself small. I take her as a model for faith, life, and even as an artist/small business owner. St. Dymphna is the patron saint of mental illness and anxiety. She is a lesser known saint, but one everyone needs to know! As someone who has personal struggles with anxiety and depression, she is one of my go-to saints! Running a business can cause some anxiety, and these two women absolutely have my back! When seeking to keep Christ at the center of my business, I ask myself these questions daily: "Why am I doing this? What is the purpose?" The sole purpose is to bring all glory and honor to Christ! I have to bring myself back to that truth time and time again, and I am grateful these two saints lead me to Christ as my foundation.”

What is the "why" or mission statement behind why you do what you do?

“I do this to share both my love of art and the gift God has blessed me with, and I direct it all to God. For a long time, I would not share the fact that I was an artist. I would hold it in or think if I shared my art, I would be showing off. This is not so! God does not want us to hide our gifts and talents. He calls us to live them out and share them with the world! I want to share my gift with those around me and give them a piece of art that reflects the Father.”

What does your day to day look like as you pursue this dream?

“In order to pursue a dream, I have to choose to show up and work on the tasks before me! It is not going to happen over night or in a blink of an eye. I have to choose to put the work into drawing and running the business side of Heart Stuck on Paper. This means waking up in a timely manner, taking care of myself, working at my other job, and coming up with new ideas for the shop! It is a challenge, but in the end it fills me with joy.”

How have you found ways to differentiate what you do from others doing something similar?

“I believe every artist is unique! We have our own styles and stories behind a piece of art. It is good to come up with your own creative ideas and artwork. I set myself apart by drawing on paper and using colored pencil and pen. It is not common to find artists who utilize colored pencil to create art. It is a medium that is not taught at many colleges, which is a shame because it is beautiful. It is how I best express my art. In the end, I truly believe all of us have a seat at the table. There is always room for another artist who does something similar!”

Can you share a way you have learned from a failure/mistake?

“Everyone is going to have failures or mistakes. It is a fact of life. What matters is what you do after that failure. Are you going to sit around and be sad? Or are you going to pick yourself up and try again? Businesses fail all the time. Go on to the next thing knowing what not to do and be better. Trust that God will lead you and pray, pray, pray!”

If you could give one piece of encouraging advice, what would it be?

“Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid to do the hard things. It is a little scary, but do not let fear or doubt overcome a dream you have! Go for it!”

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My goodness, thank you Josephine for your contribution! I was sitting here nodding my head yes to so many of your words! I absolutely loved reading about your go-to saints! I LOVE both of the power-house women you mentioned and I think it’s so important to have the mindset that the saints are in your corner. They are there for intercession, help, and love. Josephine’s words really encouraged me to take a look at the lives of the saints and to truly believe in their intercession and help.

Also, let’s not gloss over the anxiety owning a business can induce. Thank you Jesus for the sacraments and His infinite grace because we so deeply need it. Running a business is scary and incredibly vulnerable. God is in every moment. In the scary parts and the exciting parts of owning a business. Let’s run to St. Dymphna as soon as those anxious feelings creep up.

Learning to not be ashamed of your God Given gifts but to share them joyfully is a true act of sharing God’s love with others. Thank you Josephine, for the reminder to share our gifts with others. They were meant to be shared and joyfully with others and without holding back. I think is a great reminder for all of us, to stop holding back and to remember to share God’s love with others through the gifts of sharing our God Given Talents.

Lastly, just as Josephine mentioned, there are always seats at the table to offer our creative pursuits and aspirations to others. Don’t sell yourself short just because you see someone else doing something similar to you. Just go for it and ask God to be with you in every step of the journey.

Thank you Josephine for your heartfelt contribution to Loreto House Creative. Readers and community members, please make sure to follow Heart Stuck on Paper and give Josephine a share!