OMETIMES YOU JUST NEED A BREAK
WE CAUGHT UP WITH 22-YEAR-OLD EMERGING
ARTIST SOPHIE COLETTE TO TALK STUDIES,
STYLE, AND INSPIRATION
HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN INTO ART?
Since I was a teenager I started to really enjoy it. I’ve
came from an art background – my mum is really
arty so I’ve always had it in my life. She’s always
there to help if i get stuck for ideas and my love for
flowers definitely comes from her influence.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
It’s quite botanical, I tend to do quite accurate
drawings but I want to learn to loosen up my
drawings a bit more and turn them into designs and
pattern work.
SO WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPAND WHAT YOU DO?
Yeah, I have a big plan of what I want to do. I am
really interested in textile and ceramic design, so I
would like to go into that in the future. I have
already touched upon ceramic design a little at
university and really loved it, so I would really like
to develop that further.
WHAT METHODS DO YOU USUALLY USE?
Drawing and screen printing mainly. I really love
mono printing with the silk screen but drawing is
definitely what I love most though – you can just do
it anywhere, anytime and it’s really enjoyable and
relaxing – while screen printing is a way of getting
my work out there in a different format. I really
enjoy the process of screen printing too.
HOW DID YOU DEVELOP INTO YOUR CURRENT STYLE?
Well I went to UWE for three years, so it started
there. I think we were told once to look at our past
work and see if there was any recurring themes or
particular colours that we kept coming back to. I
realised at this point I really loved using colour and
drawing plants and landscapes. Before this I
remember a lot of trying to shape my art around
what other people's work was like – you see a style
you like and you want to be able to draw like that,
but really that’s no good, you already have your own
style and you should just go with it.