Sophie Ploeg

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...)

Just thought I’d let you know that Art Exposure Gallery in Glasgow is having a ‘Happy Hour’: Thursday 18 December, 5-8pm there will be Christmas cocktails, mince pies and 10% off everything (including my paintings there)! Perhaps worth popping in..... See also their newsletter

Art Exposure Gallery in Glasgow has moved to bigger premises and can now be found on 516 Great Western Road, in Glasgow. They are currently having their Christmas Show on - a huge show with a wide variety of great quality work. They are also showing three of my works - three ‘dark’ ones with Victorian lace. The show is on until Christmas so do go and visit if you are in the area. My three works on the left and Cherylene Dyer’s work right the gallery downstairs (thank you Nadia and Jane for the photos)

I have just come back from Edinburgh to attend the Private View of the BP Portrait Award 2014 at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery . The show looks absolutely amazing there, different, and I am really pleased with ‘my wall’. They managed to hang one extra painting compared to London, so now the painting ‘ The Long Wait ’ has also made it onto the walls! From the ten paintings I created there are 8 on show in Edinburgh. I made it to the newspaper, this is from The Scotsman of Friday 28 November: Here are some pictures of the show: My paintings for the Travel Award and Robert Neil’s work on the far wall. David Jon Kassan’s work in the middle Thomas Ganter’s winning painting at the far wall. The glorious central hall of the Portrait Gallery in Christmas mood BP Posters are up! More pictures here I have written a book about my project  The Lace Trail which you can preview and buy here For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote ...

Today is the start of the Christmas Exhibition at Lime Tree Gallery in Bristol. I popped in today to have a look. See the whole exhibition online:  http://www.limetreegallery.com/category.asp?CatID=292 Lime Tree Gallery 84 Hotwell Road Bristol BS8 4UB www.limetreegallery.com Christmas Show 22 November - 23 December 2014 My three paintings on the wall at Lime Tree Gallery

Opening 22 December Christmas Show Lime Tree Gallery Bristol Three paintings by me including this new one: Three Pearls Oil on linen 50x30cm The exhibition is on until 23 December and includes works by many artists, such as James Bland, George Gilbert, Neil MacDonald, David Smith and many others. See the whole exhibition online:  http://www.limetreegallery.com/category.asp?CatID=292 Lime Tree Gallery 84 Hotwell Road Bristol BS8 4UB Private View: 22 December 10am - 5pm You are invited! Feel free to pop in to see the show. I will be there around noon. I show some photos of the show after the Private View.

Some pictures of the Private View of the 162d Open Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy of Art. The exhibition is open until 7 December 2014 http://www.rwa.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2014/10/162-annual-open-exhibition/ The first main exhibition space Me in front of my painting ‘Trapped’ which was hung in the first main hall! The wall with my picture on the bottom row Other posts on the RWA Open exhibitions: RWA 162d Open Exhibition 2014 RWA 161st Open Exhibition 2013 RWA 160th Open Exhibition 2012 RWA 159th Open Exhibition 2011

Here are some pictures of the Private View of ‘Secret Lives’ at Gallery Beaux Arts in Bath. The exhibition features three of my works and remains open until 8 November. http://www.beauxartsbath.co.uk

I am very happy to tell you that, for the 4th year running, one of my paintings has been selected for the Royal West of England Academy of Art (RWA) Open Exhibition! My painting ‘Trapped’ has been selected from over 2300 entries from over 1000 artists for this huge and varied exhibition with over 500 works exhibited and for sale. The exhibition opens 12 October and runs until 7 December in Bristol. RWA Queens Road Clifton, Bristol Bs8 1PX www.rwa.org.uk Open: Tue - Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5 Entry £5 / £3.50 Trapped, oil on linen, 50x60cm

The BP Portrait Award 2014 - which includes my paintings from The Lace Trai l series, opens today at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens! Open from 4 October - 19 November, free entry See more here:  http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/update/2014-10-02/world-renowned-art-competition-comes-to-sunderland/ and here:  http://seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/bp-portrait-award-2014 and the BBC even made a short film about it:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-29499344 For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote during the BP Travel Award project (2 years), please  see this page on my blog!

New Paintings and New Exhibition I am very excited to be taking part in the exhibition ‘Secret Lives’ held at Beaux Arts in Bath . The exhibition features many brilliant artists and I am proud to be amongst them. I will show my new painting ‘The Lying-in Room’, a painting inspired by the Tudor custom for pregnant women and new mothers to shut themselves away in dark, warm rooms to prepare for the birth of their baby. This large painting features a pregnant friend who is now the proud mother of a beautiful daughter.  My small lace paintings ‘Brabant Lace’ and ‘Lace in Box’ will also be on show. If you are coming to see a particular painting please do get in touch to double check it is on show. The show opens with a Private View on 11 October 6-8pm - you are invited! Secret Lives Group Exhibition Jennifer Anderson, Akash Bhatt, Joy Wolfenden Brown, Andrew Crocker, Tessa Farmer, Nathan Ford, Naomi Frears, Sarah Gillespie, Raoof Haghighi, Donna McLean, Jennifer McRae, Sophie...

Yesterday the ‘Pay it Forward’ exhibition opened at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Here are some pictures of the show (thank you Principle Gallery!) and the links to the catalogue and a slideshow. 5 Things you should know about ‘Pay it Forward’ http://principlearttalk.com/2014/09/04/5-things-you-should-know-about-pay-it-forward/ Here is a slideshow with all the paintings in the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3mQ-PXciDo Buy the catalogue ($19.99) : http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/796386

 Only 25 DAYS TO GO for the BP Portrait Award in London! It is nearly coming to an end....The BP Portrait Award 2014 will pack up and move on in 25 days. I hope you have had a chance to go and see it, or plan to see it soon. For me it has been an amazing experience. See here:  http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/bp-portrait-award-2014.php For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote during the BP Travel Award project (2 years), please  see this page on my blog!

Pay It Forward PRINCIPLE GALLERY ALEXANDRIA 5 September - 10 October I am delighted to, once again, join the Women Painting Women exhibitions held annually in the US and sometimes Europe. Last year I was invited to exhibit a few pieces at Art Exposure Gallery in Glasgow, and this year I am proud to join a wonderful group of artists at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia, US. The ‘movement’ describes itself as such on their blog: "Women Painting Women" explores how contemporary women painters are handling women as subjects. The blog was founded by artists Alia El-Bermani, Diane Feissel and Sadie Valeri.” This year’s exhibition is titled ‘Pay it Forward’ and a percentage of each sale will go to a charity of the buyer’s choosing. A catalogue will be available. My contribution to his exhibition is Looking Back oil on line 20x24” Artist represented in the Pay It Forward Exhibition are: Jennifer Balkan Mia Bergeron

Haynes Galleries in the US has written a very good post about my recent project The Lace Trail . Do have a look here . The Gallery took my work on last year and has since been exhibiting my works in various exhibitions, the most recent being ‘Celebrating the Portrait as Timeless Art’ where my paintings were hung amongst some great American artists’ work. I am proud to show with them.

The Four Ages of Woman oil on linen 50x60cm each This is a series of 4 paintings in which modern 21st century women at various stages of their lives are portrayed wearing an authentic piece of early 17th century lace, as often seen in 17th century portraits. National Portrait Gallery, London. Until 21 September 2014 and then on tour. For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote during the BP Travel Award project (2 years), please  see this page on my blog!

Yesterday I attended the private view of the annual exhibition of the Pastel Society, held at the Mall Galleries in London. It was very busy and hot but there was (and still is) a huge variety of pastel (and other dry media such as pencil, charcoal etc) on show.  I met up with my Facebook friend Merrie Curtiss-Fuller Dadd   which was lovely as I only knew her via facebook - until now. She has a wonderful pencil portrait in the show.  She also told me that, after I had left, my painting ‘Lace Lines’ received the ‘Red Dot’ - sold on opening night. Brilliant! Pastel Society annual Exhibition Mall Galleries The Mall, London http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/index.php?pid=2&subid=198 10-21 June 2014 Open 10-5 every day. Admission £3 Here are a few pics Lace Lines, pastel, hanging wonderfully in the West Gallery at the Mall Galleries. Merrie’s portrait top left, my pastel painting bottom right. The crowd when I came in - it got busier and busier! ...

Some pictures of the newly opened gallery 516 The Gallery in Glasgow - a sister gallery of Art Exposure Gallery, run by the wonderful Frances. If you are in the area, do visit! ‘Enveloped’ (left) and ‘White Dove’ (right) my paintings ‘Enveloped’ and ‘White Dove’ are in the middle Thank you Frances, for the pictures! 516 Great Western Road  Glasgow G12 8EL 0141 328 5419 Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 till 6pm Sunday 12 till 5pm. http://www.516thegallery.com