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...)

I have taken a big step and decided to offer workshops. This has been playing on my mind for many months and I have finally taken the decision to go for it. I hope you can join me or spread the word. Feel free to ask any and all questions. For now I am planning on two workshops: Portrait Drawing I will offer a one day, intensive portrait drawing workshop where I will delve into how to draw a face, what to look out for, what helpful methods to use and show you how to work with shape, proportion, values, lines, shading and mark making. We will work from photos. Materials are simple so as not to distract from the task of getting a face onto the paper. We will work mainly with graphite pencils and paper but pens, charcoal pencils and pastel pencils are welcome too. All materials will be included, and tea or coffee provided. 22 January 2015 10am - 4pm £65 pp. Pastel Portraits The second workshop I will offer is Portraits in Pastel - a comprehensive and fully packed day of learnin...

This pastel painting is finished. I am not sure about the title yet...bear with me. How about ‘Two Cushions’ for now. This is 18x11”/ 46x28cm Pastel

 Two pastel paintings I’ve been working on recently. Paper Bag and Lace, 24x30cm, pastel Paper Bag and Ribbons, 24x30cm pastel

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! ...

I am really proud and happy to share the news that my painting ‘Lace Lines’ has been selected for the annual exhibition of the Pastel Society. The exhibition will be held, as usual, at the Mall Galleries in London, from 10 - 21 June 10am -5pm daily. Entry £3. http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/index.php?pid=2&subid=198 http://www.thepastelsociety.org.uk

All subscribers the the Pastel Journal (USA) should have received their February issue now, and hopefully seen my article “The Fabric of Life”. Here is a picture of the opening spread. In the article I give a step-by-step demonstration on how the painting ‘Lace Lines’ came about, with lots of pictures and explanations. I also discuss technique, subject matter and much more, all illustrated with my pastel work. My technique for using pastel is quite similar to the technique I use with oil paints so hopefully the article will be interesting for oil painters as well as pastellists. The small hatching technique can easily be applied to both, and gives much control over details and shading. I hope you will enjoy the article. Feel free to let me know what you think of it. Enjoy! You can purchase your copy here: http://www.northlightshop.com/pastel-journal-february-2014-issue-group/?lid=BWpasar121713 A preview of the magazine:

New pastel painting off the easel Lace Lines Pastel 10x17” The ‘making of’ will appear in the February issue of the American Pastel Journal. A preview of which can be seen here. and you can buy the Pastel Journal here http://www.northlightshop.com/pastel-journal-february-2014-issue-group/?lid=BWpasar121713

Katherine, who writes the fabulous ‘Making a Mark’ blog where she keeps up with all that’s happening in the world of art, has written a lovely review of the annual exhibition of the Pastel Society which opened yesterday. ‘Love Pastels 2012’ will be on untill 25 February and my painting ‘Flowerbed’ is featured amongst a huge variety of styles and subject matter - but all in pastel. A brilliant medium, my first love amongst art materials, which deserves every bit of extra attention it can get. Review: "Love Pastels" - The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2012 Here are some pictures of the show, taken from the review on the Making a Mark Blog. Works by Felicity House, who won The Artist Magazine Award. Works by Matthew Draper, who won the PanPastel Award, for another painting. Patricia Cain’s award winning work, I love here work and I am sure this triptych is hugely impressive in real life! My painting ‘Flowerbed’ Thank you, Katherine!!

Flowerbed, pastel, 65x45cm I am happy to share that my painting ‘Flowerbed’ has been selected to be exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Pastel Society. It went through two stages of selection by a panel of expert judges who saw hundreds of entries. The exhibition, Love Pastels 2012, will be on display at the Mall Galleries in London from 14-25 February 2012. Mall Galleries Pastel Society An image from the Pastel Society exhibition, with thanks to Making a Mark. My fellow pastelist Svetlana Cameron will also exhibit a wonderful piece

After a long break I took out my pastels again. The last pastel painting I did was ‘In the Rainbow Underpass’ (the one that got in the Royal Society of Portrait Painters!) which was a while ago, back in the early part of the year. Now we’re already rushing towards Christmas! High time to get ‘dusty’ again. I wasn’t planning on doing such a big painting, but here we go: Flower Bed, pastel, 65x45 / 25x18” As good as finished, just a few tweaks here and there. 15 Nov: I have updated the image with the finished piece.

RWA 159th Autumn Exhibition Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol My self portrait has an excellent spot right beneath an amazing painting by Alan Kingsbury The show features 500+ works by Academicians, other established artists as well as emerging talent. The variety is enormous and it is a great show. I still hope to go back soon and take photos of all the works that stand out to me. Other posts on the RWA Open exhibitions: RWA 163d Open Exhibition 2015 RWA 162d Open Exhibition 2014 RWA 161st Open Exhibition 2013 RWA 160th Open Exhibition 2012 RWA 159th Open Exhibition 2011 You are reading my old blog, please find my new blog on my website here

159th Autumn Exhibition My pastel  Self Portrait  has been selected for the autumn exhibition at the  Royal West of England Academy of Art  in Bristol. The show features a huge variety of the best of contemporary art and I am proud to be part of it. All works will be for sale and I hope you can visit to have a look! The Exhibition runs from 30 October - 31 December 2011. Royal West of England Academy Queen's Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1PX,  0117 973 5129,  info@rwa.org.uk ,   www.rwa.org.uk Opening Times:  09:30 - 5:30pm Monday - Saturday. 11:00 - 5:00pm Sunday Last admission half an hour before closing