By Natalie Taylor
Sheridan Elliot was born in the Midlands, and as a proper English girl was sent off to a boarding school at the age of seven. Instead of becoming a compliant young lady, by the time she finished the fourteenth grade, the boarding school experience created in her a passionate desire for freedom and adventure. She went off to college in Kensington, with an emphasis on business, but her education there was truly comprehensive, covering the humanities and art.
After this, she went to London to work in advertising, and quickly rose in the ranks to become a junior executive. In the 1960s, London was an exciting city to be in, with many social changes and new freedoms. She met someone from Ibiza and when he suggested she come visit him, she accepted. She loved the island because it was still an unspoiled paradise, with empty, lovely beaches and a laid back atmosphere mostly devoid of foreigners. After two years, she married the man whom she had followed to Ibiza and they began their married life with back and forth trips between London and the island. Her husband had a boathouse in Chelsea and worked for an art gallery. They had two children, but after a number years the marriage fell apart.
Then Sheridan married sculptor Carlos Sansegundo, and they settled to live in Ibiza. When Franco died in 1975, Spain regained its freedom after four decades of authoritarian rule, and Sheridan and Carlos moved to Madrid and built a house there. It was a lovely city to be living in, but Carlos was restless and wanted to move again. He was an American citizen because his former wife, Ruth Klingman, was from the United States. And so in 1980, Carlos and Sheridan moved to East Hampton where she went to work for the East Hampton Star, and became its art director. She created their crossword puzzles and continues to contribute to the newspaper to this day. In 1986, she and Carlos Sansegundo parted ways, however they do have a son together and she has kept Carlos’ last name.
In 2006 Sheridan Sansegundo was looking for a place to retire and she knew, after so many years of living abroad, that she did not want to settle in the United States. A friend suggested she visit San Miguel de Allende, an excellent location because of its proximity to the US where her children were living. The moment she arrived in San Miguel she fell in love with the city, because, among many things, it reminded her very much of Ibiza. She realized she did not need to go any further and moved here in 2007.
Here in San Miguel, Sheridan keeps busy. She always liked to “create” things and now has a studio where she paints and puts together objets d’art, such as decorated boxes with found objects. Some years back she became intrigued by “quockerwodgers”, wooden puppets whose limbs move when a string is pulled. Normally they are rather small, toy size. But Sheridan has made them in large sizes, as tall as four feet, and she does not follow tradition, her decorations of the puppets is uniquely her own. Aside from her art creations, Sheridan continues contributing to the East Hampton Star with her crossword puzzle; and she does the same for Atención, here in town.
After 15 years of living in San Miguel, Sheridan has seen many changes. Some of them bring back nostalgia for the old days when there were fewer people and you knew most everyone in town. And of course, she bemoans the bane of us all—the traffic, and the seemingly unchecked construction. But so much of San Miguel’s charm and beauty remains, and she says that she has never regretted coming here. She has always loved the fact that there is a certain amount of anarchy here—not everything is done by the book, not everything is cookie cutter. “People sometimes misbehave,” she says, “and it’s OK.” It gives the city a slightly wild feel, an excitement in the air. Sheridan’s life has been filled with adventure and risk-taking, she has never been afraid to take a leap into the unknown. She closes with her own words, defining her world view: “What you will regret is not what you did, but what you didn’t do.”
Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the US, English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Translator. www.natalietaylor.org Contact: tangonata@gmail.com
