Artist Spotlight: Sophie Dunlop

Sophie Dunlop is the focus of our artist spotlight this week. Her work explores themes and subject matter inspired by her travels to Europe and Asia as well as the beauty of the everyday as seen in fruit, flowers objects and vistas found in and around her home in Adelaide.

Who (or what) do you consider your artistic inspiration?

Whenever I am looking for inspiration to start a new painting, I usually start with a feeling or mood I want to create. This can be triggered by an image I like, or a piece of fabric or object that grabs my attention. The painting I'm working on at the moment started with an orange vase that I bought last year. All year I have been thinking about my orange vase and looking for friends for it. I went to my favourite local Moroccan shop and bought an intricate piece of embroidered fabric, then when persimmons came in season, I put them all together. On a broader level, my inspiration comes from paintings that I have seen and loved throughout my life and artists that inspire me. I particularly love the Italian Renaissance and have visited Florence many times, (my first visit was when I was 9). The paintings there are of a world that I feel is still real, almost ideal. When I was last there, I think I found the forest that appears in Botticelli's 'Primavera'. These days, a visit to my father's studio [Brian Dunlop] in Beechworth can inspire me. His intense determination and uncompromising routine can help me to focus and stay inspired. Places can also inspire me, I spent months in Tasmania and I'm still processing this experience and feel that one day I'll go back there to live and paint for a period.

Do you listen to music while you work, and if so, what is most often playing?

Yes, I have cds I play which are all scratched. I have some classical and some not classical. Sibellius, Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Nick Cave. I feel I need some new music as I play the same one too much.

Who of your peers do you respect the most?

Since moving to Adelaide 7 years ago, I've met a few artists whose work and career I admire. I share a studio with Anna Platten whose dedication to her art and focus is amazing. I have more peers in Sydney where I trained and grew up. Some of these include my wonderful teacher Francis Giacco and then of course there's my father, Brian Dunlop. I'm reading Jeffrey Smart's 'Not Quite Straight' which is a fantastic insight into the exciting and uncertain life of an artist. My artist friends, Jacqueline Balassa and Jenny Sands have had a profound influence on my work.

Do you have any habits/rituals or strange superstitions when painting?

Sorry, I think I'm a bit boring. I really just love being able to spend a whole day in my studio without any chores or jobs to rush off to do. Saturday is my favourite day. I get to my studio around 10, then paint, wander off the market for a break, paint a bit more, then meet my friends for coffee, then paint some more! It's heaven.

When did you decide to become an artist?

I didn't really ever decide. A girl at high school once said she envied me because I knew what I wanted to do (I had no idea). It wasn't until I tried being sensible and doing something else (architecture), that I realised I could only be an artist. Ever since, every time I try to do anything else, my life becomes a nightmare and I have to go back to painting. So I guess I don't have much say in the matter.

What is your favourite colour?

I love them all! Especially if they're strong and vivid. I really love colour combinations, not just one colour. Byzantine would be one description. Eva once asked if my painting really was "psychadelic like in that photo". I just see the world in very intense colour. I suppose green would be number one if I had to chose one. (I like to be contrary and love the one people say is most difficult).

Do you have a favourite painting or work of art?

That's a hard one. I love many paintings and I also think there can be pivotal moments in your life when paintings can speak to you. I went to Florence for the fourth time when I was 26 and almost every painting I saw had a profound effect on me, it was an intense month. I love Piero Della Francesca's Duke and Duchess of Urbino and their marriage procession, 'Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro'. I love Botticelli's 'Prima Vera', it blew me away when I was 9 years old and it's wonderful to have that memory with you forever. I love Giorgione's mythical landscapes, Bellini's madonna and child paintings, Carpaccio, Corot, Van Gogh. I guess I should mention some Australian artists, Justin O'Brien, Adrian Feint, Brian Dunlop, Hans Heysen's Flinders Rangers paintings I saw in his retrospective were a wonderful surprise, Margaret Olley is an inspiration.