Sophie Windham brought up in the bucolic Gloucestershire countryside, which inspired her life long love of nature. She comes from a family of artists, including her mother, the painter Annette de Mestre and her aunt, the painter Rachel Windham, both of whom were fundamental in her development as an artist. After training at the Byam Shaw and Chelsea Art School in London, she worked for twenty years as a children’s book illustrator and in 1997 was nominated for the Greenaway Medal. During the early years Sophie travelled extensively, living in Venezuela and Los Angeles, where she continued to work and exhibit. In 1994 she moved to the Welsh Borders with her family and for the last decade she has been exhibiting her work in Hay on Wye and London. She has works in private collections in America, Australia, Europe and Venezuela.
Moving from illustration to painting has been an important transition for me. I feel a part of the land around me and I am absorbed into it, I use memories and photographs that I collect while walking in the hills. I paint straight onto the canvas, it’s not conscious, it just happens. Most of my paintings are worked on for months, two or three at a time, and there are many layers underneath the finished painting. I begin with detail and gradually strip down the piece until I am satisfied - hopefully leaving the essence of the landscape and allowing the viewer space for their own interpretation.
Exhibitions:
1981: Caracas Venezuela, Solo show
1990: Every Picture Tells a Story, Los Angeles, Solo Show
1995: The Illustration Cupboard, London Solo Show
2000: The Illustration Cupboard, London Solo Show
2005: The Gallery, Hay on Wye
2014: The Troubadour Gallery, London
2014: The River Cafe, Glasbury
2016: The Gallery Yr Oriel, Newport, Pembs
2017: The Studio Glebe Place
2017: The Table, Hay on Wye
2019: The Table, Hay on Wye, Solo Show
2019: The Gallery Green and Stone, London
2021: The Table, Hay on Wye, Solo Show
2023: The Table, Hay on Wye, Solo Show
2023: The RA Summer Exhibition, London
Shortlisted for the Greenway medal for Unicorns! Unicorns!