Soft pastel is one of the most exciting and versatile painting mediums
Welcome!
I am a Dutch-born artist, art tutor, writer and art historian, based in the UK.
I love how history can put things in perspective and in my paintings I aim to celebrate the great human story we are all part of.
The Dutch are known to be down to earth: I teach art in a practical way. My online courses and workshops are informal yet full of learning.
I write to pay it forward; sharing experiences to help others.
The Latest Blog Posts
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Sophie’s Art School
Get The Right Tools To Find Your Own Artistic Voice
An online art school for all who want to improve their painting skills with coures on oil painting, pastel and portraiture. Beginners and more advanced are welcome.
Online Courses
Online video courses to take in your own time and space. Watch and re-watch as often as you like, do the assignments and make your art grow.
Resource Library
A growing library of articles, tutorials, interviews and more for you to dive into.
Private Community
Share your work, questions and progress in the school’s private supportive community.
Art
In my paintings I try to connect the past and the present, thereby seeking perspective and insight into our own world. History has always had this grounding feature; it helps to make us see the bigger picture and takes away the seeming randomness of events. A sense of order and belonging is what we seek when we study and ‘create’ our own historic narrative.
My portrait work has been exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the BP Portrait Award and elsewhere. My pastel paintings have been exhibited at the Pastel Society and published in the US Pastel Journal Magazine. My work is exhibited and collected in the UK, US and Europe.
BP Portrait/Travel Award
In 2013 my Self Portrait with Lace Collar was accepted into the BP Portrait Award exhibition. One of the awards in this exhibition is the Travel Award, which is given out every year in order to allow artists to expand their horizon and work on a portraiture-related project. Every artist selected for the BP Portrait Award is invited to submit a proposal for the Travel Award.
I gratefully received the BP Travel Award for my proposal to research how lace is depicted in early 17th century portraiture in England and The Netherlands. My travel and research inspired me to create a new series of ten new paintings. A selection of the paintings was exhibited within the BP Portrait Award 2014 exhibition which started in London in June 2014 and toured to Sunderland, Edinburgh and Wales thereafter. Various works have since been exhibited in exhibitions throughout the UK. A book celebrates my project and catalogues the paintings.
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©2020 Sophie Ploeg