Ivory Towers

Here are the three prints I've been working on for European Parkinson's Disease Association (EPDA) magazine. It will be out in January and available online this month.

 

Final painting for Branches Arc Album

This is the final painting of five that I have produced to go alongside some beautiful folky music produced  by talented Chris Witherall. This painting is an abstract representation of spiritual growth, being at one with nature and flourishing as a person. 

Volunteering at The Big Draw’s Big Splash

On Sunday 25^th September I joined a number of inspirational Illustrators (including Quentin Blake) to help bring art to the masses. I was part of a team helping to deliver a somewhat organized but messy workshop to people of all ages. We followed direction given by talented Herve Tullet, through a megaphone, to draw and paint on large rolls of paper on the floor. Music was even used as inspiration to guide our paintbrushes and posca pens across the vast expanse of paper.

Marion Deuchars led the second workshop where I lent a hand to young budding artists designing their own African masks.

The day went really well, and it was great experience to work alongside some inspiring people in the Illustration field. 

There were lots of other workshops going on too. Fellow members of the Paper Jukebox collective also got involved.

Photos courtesy of talented Paper Jukebox member Lucy Evans.

Show and Tell, a Pop Up Shop

Show and Tell was a pop-up shop at St Peters Hall, in Bournemouth. This is my work displayed above. It was a disused night club transformed beautifully with a range of art from prints, photography and paintings to jewelry, cakes and soap, alongside some lovely music from live bands. It was great to exhibit in the town where so much of my inspiration has come from and so much of my work has been produced. Follow this link to read more about the Pop Up Shop and the other artists involved.

Greetings cards for sale

These individual hand printed greetings cards, blank inside, are now for sale. There are a number of different designs which will shortly be available via my online shop at www.sophie-rae.com and in a few little shops on the south coast. For now get in touch (sophie@sophie-rae.com)

BRINK

Hanging my prints in the Truman Brewery last week. Six original A1 prints of mine were exhibited alongside fellow illustrators from The Arts University College Bournemouth. The exhibition was a great success and will set the standards of what's to come in the future from me. To buy prints, original or limited edition, please email me.

CD cover design and poster

This is a CD cover I produced for a couple of tunes by Parov Stelar to go alongside the A1 monoprints I made in response to the songs. The print alongside it folds up to fit inside the CD case, designed to be a pull out poster.

As predominantly a printmaker it has been refreshing to work on a pencil drawing again, that isn't just an energetic sketch or prior idea for a print, but a detailed study of a turtle. Keeping all the skills in check.

Heres one design I have been working on to go on a greetings card.  I'm working on a whole selection so this will form the basis of a set of maybe five designs that can be sold together as a pack.

You can now find a portfolio of my work on 5oup.

Have a lookie here. 

You can now view my work on Wallcollective:

http://sophierae.wallcollective.com/

www.sophie-rae.com

Check it out for the latest, innovative monoprints

Handmade and hand printed unique presentation box

I got creative by printing onto a box I made. This will be used as part of my promotional material to contain business cards, postcards, handprinted unique greetings cards and a unique monoprint.

A little monoprint I've done of a little quote I like

Forget the bikini; let’s take a paintbrush to the beach

On Mayday, which happened to be my birthday, some of the Paper Jukebox team and I got creative in a sandy environment. Four boards, six artists, we created images based on a surf/beach theme for Boscombe’s SURFX event. This is the video of our artwork in production. Its always great to work with other people, it keeps you focused on a joint goal. Arthur and me went with an expressive underwater scene using paints and pens.

A sneak peek...

... what could be beyond the long grass?.. these are prints based on music by Parov Stelar. His song The Mojo Radio Gang has provided inspiration throughout this project. The prints are a reflection of the moods I feel and the things I associate with the sounds. More of these prints are going to appear very soon on my website. 

A frog in a boat

I've been busy, busy creating prints. Think organic forms, sunlight and lazy days. Nature infused by magic. Ethereal. There isn't actually a frog in a boat in this photo, but thats a taster or what's to come...

James and the GIANT peach

The epic childhood story of a charming youngster called James and this overly large Peach he stumbles upon will be celebrating its seventieth anniversary soon. So as a great appreciator of such adventures I took to the task of redesigning the book cover for Penguins Design Awards. I had been working on this in November, but have revisited it to make changes. This is the design I have entered. Fingers crossed. 

Dreambox Exhibition and Live Art

My illustration of the male with face paint was used in an exhibition at The Lighthouse in Poole, based on dreams. 

The chicken rocking the zebra mohawk was a collaborative piece I created with Annette Johns, fellow classmate and part of our Paper Jukebox collective. The large board was transformed in front of the eyes of fellow attendees of the event 'Off with their Heads'. An event with an Alice in Wonderland theme the collective took four stark white boards and made each one a suite from a pack of cards, interpreting this in a number of ways. For more information and photos head over to the Paper Jukebox site.

Music as inspiration

I'm looking at two songs by Parov Stelar and I am going to enter the D&AD 2011 Illustration Awards. The brief asks for an innovative way of combining Illustration and Music. I want to continue the project after the D&AD deadline exploring visual ways to interpret music. Taking inspiration from festivals and the escapism they both provide. Looking at surrealism and all things bizarre and intriguing...



Commission - Greetings card design for ArtQuirk

Heart and Sole commission

This is a painting that was commissioned for an event called Heart & Sole. The event consisted fairly equally of students and industry professionals. The painting aims to show a network of creatives being the root of the heart and stability for individual success. Here you can take a look at the painting online

The Art of Nurture

This is the Illustration I submitted for the Lloyd TSB 2011 competition, 'The Art of Nurture' where we had to illustrate one of 5 points about the values the company hold and abide to. My image illustrates 'We make it Simple' and 'We stretch ourselves'. Done using relief printing techniques.

An astronaut driving a Lunar Rover heads to the moon. This image shows an example of one of the simplest designs, the wheel, being used in an extraordinary way. The wheel is an incredible invention and such a simple design. It has literally allowed man to travel light-years and been taken to the moon and back. This image also shows how we stretch ourselves by exploring different planets and the wheel has been used in a situation of this magnitude, because it is a design that has stood the test of time.

Up in the air

This is my interpretation to a brief titled Up in The Air, set by This is... collective.