Sophie Ploeg

On Friday 27 March I’ll be doing a lunch time talk at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery about my project  The Lace Trail . The talk is about an hour, free,  and I hope to see you there! Dutch artist, art historian and BP Travel Award winner Sophie Ploeg takes you into the lavish world of early 17th century Dutch and English portraiture. These portraits and the development of lace and ruffs as a fashion accessory has inspired her to create a series of new paintings which are currently on display within the BP Portrait Award 2014 exhibition. Within this talk she will discuss early 17th century portraiture, the development of 17th century lace and how she got inspired to create the costumes for her paintings. She will share studio images of the works in progress and explain her working method. Scottish National Portrait Gallery Friday 27 March 12.45 - 2pm Free (If you cannot make this talk there will be another one in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire on 23 April)

Pleased to announce that my painting ‘Two Cushions’ has been selected to be exhibited in the Pastel Society’s annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. Look Again Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2015 24 February - 7 March Mall Galleries The Mall, London SW1 Two Cushions, pastel http://www.thepastelsociety.org.uk http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/look-again (can I hint at an exciting exhibition coming up in...Manchester! Stay tuned...)

My workshops are filling up but if you are interested in joining me for a day of drawing portraits do have a look on my Workshop page on my website  where you can also sign up. On the 22 January I will dive into the nitty gritty of how to draw a face, which can be so difficult sometimes. We will explore a few techniques and just dive in with some basic drawing materials. We will try and think about proportion, shading, mark making, line and shapes, values and much more. Drawing portraits is the underlying basis for all portrait painting, whether you prefer oils, pastels or watercolour and so it will help in whichever medium you prefer to work. On 29 January we will attack colour! Pastels are a great medium if you like to work with colour as it is direct and instant. It will not change over time and you do not need to wait for it to dry. You can mix, blend, layer and scumble just like with any other paint medium. We will touch upon a few portrait drawing topics but go less deep ...

Happy 2015!! I love looking ahead so I have been looking at any great exhibitions coming up. Not the ones with my work in it - necessarily - but the big ones at the major public galleries. Lots of newspapers do this but just like everybody else I never agree with their selection! In 2014 there were some real blockbuster exhibitions. I don’t always get to go because of time restraints (I have a young family so sometimes Rembrandt has to make way for Paddington Bear) but I really enjoyed the ‘Wedding Dresses’ exhibition at the V&A last year, as well as the major Veronese exhibition at the National Gallery. Of course the BP Portrait Award 2014 was a big one for me personally. I really wanted to see the Rembrandt exhibition but I simply ran out of time and had to skip it. I am no big exhibition-goer, but I am a wannabe. In no particular order I hope to see at least some of these promising exhibitions in 2015. Which ones would you recommend and have I missed? Sargent. Portrai...

A new year, new plans, cleaning up, sorting out... As soon as the new year starts I usually get the bug and can’t wait to throw out the Christmas decorations, tidy up and go for minimalist instead of cozy and full. I have been researching a new easel for a long time now and although not totally decided or ordered I wanted to make more space in my small studio. So out with the big (-ish) old desk and in with a new smaller one! A few shelves and a new desk chair (still to be covered with some nice fabric) and some re-organising later I am very happy with a new, more organised, space saving corner in my studio.  I used  Pinterest  for some interior design ideas...  There is more space to set up models and still lives, more space to hold Open Studios and most importantly there is space for the longed for big easel. But that is another story. Ten Best Facebook Pages on Art The New Year was off to a good start by a post by the Making a Mark Blog about the 10 ...

Just wanted to say... Thanks... For your interest and support Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (lots of exciting things in store for 2015!)