Sophie Harding

Born in London, 1970. Sophie’s parents relocated to Somerset and then Swanage, Dorset where she grew up, the eldest of seven siblings.

Sophie graduated from Central St Martins in 1992 with a BA Hons in Fashion and Textile design.

Since 1993, Sophie has worked full-time as a painter, illustrator and textile designer creating original paintings, best selling cards, gift wrap, wallpaper, calendars, diaries, colouring-in books, textile prints for womenswear & homewares for the UK and internationally. Around seven years ago, Sophie decided to concentrate primarily on painting & printmaking.

Clients have included Collagerie, East End Prints, Airbnb, Marks & Spencer, The Cornish Bakery, The Art Group, Friends of the Earth, Nigel Quiney, Dunoon, Ladybird Books, Artists’ Cards Ltd and Rosenstiel’s Fine Art Publishers.

Sophie’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries around the UK since 1986. Galleries have included Liberty London, New Craftsman Gallery, Padstow Gallery, Birdie Fortescue, The Byre Gallery, Avalon, Square Gallery, Gallery Tresco, Mulberry Tree Gallery and Eastwood Fine Art.

Sophie is inspired by the wonderful paintings of Milton Avery,Mary Fedden, William Scott, Klaas Gubbels, Etel Adnan, Bonnard, Ken Done and Matisse. Working mainly from life and sketches and occasionally photos she paints small moments from her life in far West Cornwall: a collection of inspiring objects in the home, seasonal fruit and flowers, fresh fish from Newlyn, a morning spent on the beach or a stroll through a local Cornwall garden. By concentrating on the essence of objects and scenes she creates feelings of joy, escapism, calm and stillness with a strong focus on celebrating the small and simple joys in life using colour to evoke positive emotions.

Sophie lives in Penzance and works either in her tiny studio at home or in a larger space just off Chapel Street, five minutes away from the seafront.