Meet Sophie-Elizabeth Thompson

Sophie Elizabeth Thompson with sculpture

Meet Sophie-Elizabeth Thompson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sophie-Elizabeth Thompson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sophie-Elizabeth, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I always loved creating and wanted to be an artist at a very early age. I have a book by Richard Scarry book where I chose my professions. One was a pig brick laying and the other was a cat being as sculptor. I wanted to do both and now have done both.

When a little older, but still very young, I remember being down the garden with a small penknife or a screw driver and a hammer and making a mess of a block of wood thinking I was creating something amazing.

I always had a dream that I could be in those quiet moments creating all day long. Later, before bed I would read books about artists and visualise having my own studio and being covered in plaster and drawing all day, being lost in the moment and completely calm and happy.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My artistic life really started at school where I learnt to work with clay. I remember seeing a book with some of Picassos ceramics works and feeling a sense of liberation as the shapes he was making were not conventional, and I remember thinking how wonderful it would be to be allowed to make those kind of ceramic pieces.

After school I went to study at an Art Foundation Course in the Uk where we were given the opportunity to explore different materials and my path took me down more ceramic work.
I studied ceramics and 3D design at Bath in the UK which I absolutely loved.

The hardest part initially was leaving the safety of the Art college. I was determined that I wanted the life of an artist, however I had no idea how and so I did a secretarial course to learn to type and work on the computer. For years I worked during the day in offices as a personal assistant or as a legal secretary and by night I would go to my studio and work as late as I could before going to bed and doing it all again the next day.

Today, I have achieved my dream and work as a full time artist from my studio in Barcelona. I now have assistants to help with the running of the company as well as the physical aspects of sculpture creation enabling me to work on many projects at the same time.

These days I still work in clay, but the majority of my work I now create by carving from blocks of plaster and then create often large scale pieces in stone, bronze and resin.

I work directly with interior designers, architects and landscape designers helping them by creating site specific sometimes monumental sculptures for many hospitality projects and private clients world wide.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I would have liked to have known that it is possible to live the life of your dreams, doing what you love every day. I just didn’t know how. My pivoting point was when I was doing so many day jobs as well as doing my own creative work and yet didn’t have enough money for anything I needed and I was tired. I decided that there must be a better way.

I found who I would consider to be my mentor, Bob Proctor when he was alive. I studied what he was teaching, which in essence is, we become what we think about. That we are creating our own realities by our reactions to our environment and that to create the life that you really want, you need to change your self image and by doing so you will also change your perceptions and make different decisions. Decisions that a successful artist would make rather than a struggling one wishing they were successful.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me it’s the feeling of absolute calm while I’m creating in my studio, whether I’m drawing or carving, I am not thinking about anything and feel completely at peace and happy. And something that really surprised me was the fact that the more I am me, the better my work is and the more appreciated it is by others.
Being an artist because I absolutely love what I do and then inspiring others with what I do – what could be better than that!

Contact Info:


https://canvasrebel.com/meet-sophie-elizabeth-thompson/