At the early age of 24 Sophie was spotted by the Royal Watercolour Society and invited to become an associate member. She also won her first large painting award “the Hunting Group Young Person’s Award” for her large canvass, this time in oil.

Since completing her postgraduate diploma at the Royal Academy of Art in 1989, Sophie has had numerous exhibitions in London and touring shows in Spain, the USA and Canada.

In 1999 she received a prestigious commission to paint six watercolours which are now housed permanently in the House of Lords. She was pleased to recently discover she also has a painting hung in the Prime Minister’s chamber. Sophie also worked on location inside the Palace of Westminster producing two large watercolours of its interior, now hung in the new parliamentary building. She has been collected by numerous private collectors and has work in the British Museum (The Royal Watercolour Society Archives), the TSB Bank (The City), and several corporate collections, including Pilkingtons and Freshfields Solicitors.

My Method

I mainly work in situ, directly from the landscape/cityscape. I also produce larger scale works, in a more reflective manner, in my studio in London.

I work very physically, often in awkward locations such as perched on the edge of a waterfall or surrounded by commuters at a station. This experience and the struggle to record the ever-changing light, colour and weather of my subject all becomes an integral part of its final appearance.

Working quickly, I drench the paper with water and pigment keeping the composition constantly on the move, pushing the paint around until I am happy with the final image. I aim to retain those first moments of visual excitement I feel when truly looking.

My paintings are an amalgamation of experiences. The noise, smell and visual impact of the city and landscape all transmit themselves through the energetic marks and texture I create while working.

My work is not anchored to any topographical imperative, I use visual stimulus only as a vehicle from which to convey a more personal vision in which mystery, mood and suggestion play a large role.