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An Eye for Colour
About
the Artist Sophie Brown was born to a Scottish mother (a musician) and an English/Irish father (a painter, sculptor and poet). The second of four daughters, she spent her formative years in rural environments in Scotland, Lincolnshire, southern Ireland, and North Devon. She has been based in North West England since 1988, currently living in Stockport where she has her art studio, and working part time in Macclesfield as a Landscape Architect. She originally trained as a Fine Artist in Edinburgh in the early 1980's, where a tradition in regular life-drawing led to the development of strong draughtsmanship. Edinburgh also instilled a love of colour and painterliness, with influences from the scottish 20th century colourist movement. Sophie is a versatile creative and her artistic sensitivity and expressive energy have been directed in a variety of ways over the last 20 years. In 1988-90, she was awarded a scholarship to study landscape design at the University of Manchester and became a chartered Landscape Architect in 1993, working across the north west in design roles, whilst also learning and developing her own skills in digital and graphic design. It wasn't until 2003, when the opportunity arose to do so, that Sophie cultivated and reclaimed her innate abilities and interest in fine art, and started painting professionally for the first time. She had a solo show in less than a year - "A Brush with Life" in south Devon in Autumn 2003 - paintings in this exhibition based on scenes in Torquay were painted as part of a series for this show. This was followed in Summer 2004 with a contribution to a group show of four artists called "The Uncorrupted Eye". The same year, she also exhibited regularly at a gallery in Stockport, and participated in two shows as a member of "Imagination" Macclesfield Borough's Creative Industries Forum. She already has works in private collections in Europe and the States, and has done a number of painting commissions. This exhibition, her first solo show in the north west, showcases some of her recent paintings - a joyful and exuberant explosion of colour and richness of expression. Sophie aims to create pieces which, both in their creation and viewing, inspire and uplift. She sees painting as part of the process of becoming fully alive and aware, true to oneself, and free of distorted perceptions - each painting becoming a kind of "map of the mind and emotions" at any time. Objects and landscapes, animate and inanimate, all are seen to communicate that essential message of aliveness which is interpreted through an emotional language of strong composition, delicate paint handling and harmonious intense or subtle colour hues. More recent works have introduced a poetic, metaphoric quality where the viewer and artist are invited to make connections, discern hidden meanings or suggest a story-line. A development in style from earlier watercolour flower studies, to the later, more painterly acrylic sea and skyscapes is evident - a style which will, no doubt, evolve. Article in Knutsford Guardian
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