Hey hey, I’m Sophie. I’m an artist based in the north, a little beautiful town called Harrogate, well known for Betty’s tea rooms and stunning countryside. I am a multi-disciplinary artist working with a broad range of mediums, from painting to embroidery to clay to animation. I’m probably a little bit neurodivergent so I’m always tinkering away at some creative project, trying new crafts and experimenting with things.
As this site is dedicated to my painting practice we’ll stay focused on that and delve a little deeper into my painting work.
My painting work is an expressive place where I find myself reflecting and regulating. These pieces are on canvas and often large, they range from abstract to impressionism. I work with a range of mediums, oils, acrylics and watercolours. Recently I have been experimenting with using household ingredients to add new textures to my paint, like paprika for example when mixed with pva glue creates a gritty texture.
In my abstract pieces I really like to explore colours and mixing them to create different shades and tones, this also lends itself to my impressionism style works where mixing the colours slightly and gradually creates subtle shifts in tone and creates the ability to make an image appear through gentle brushstrokes.
My impressionist style work is primarily focused on nature, inspired by the countryside I frequent with my dogs, and is a reflection of places I have been and views I have experienced. I tend to ebb and flow between impressionist views to abstract floral to abstract expressionism that is a process of regulation using movement, thick brushstrokes and building up of colours.
My life in all aspects is a part of my artistic journey and every creative project influences the next, my work is intuitive and spontaneous and sometimes it can be more planned out. I’m inspired by the time I spend in nature and the colours of my emotional world reflect into my process. I have made art since I was a child and it has been the one constant that weaves itself throughout my experience and my way of understanding life.
Throughout my life I have sold art all over the world, when I was spending time traveling abroad and at home in the UK, from portrait commissions to my own work. I have participated in art fairs and markets, I also sell my embroidery online. I currently work in a mental health hospital as an activity co-ordinator where I host creative workshops for patients and I’m studying a part time fine art degree along-side so that I can complete a masters in art therapy. I’m very passionate about using art and creativity as healthy coping mechanisms and ways to regulate and communicate.
Through my paintings, I aim to create a calming presence. I invite the viewers for a moment of rest and a deep breath of fresh air.
