SAM SOPWITH
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8th October to 1st November 2025
Sometimes I feel like a guest in my own studio; it is largely occupied by an army of resident snoring dogs and a fearsome tortoise, who delights in terrorising the aforementioned canines, as well as me on occasion.
He doesn’t hold back in visually making clear his opinion of my work, and anything left in his range is in danger; his particular favourite is battling sculptures of all shapes and sizes - he has taken on rearing horses and prowling lions. In his mind he’s dominated them all.
Despite this I somehow love him, but then there aren’t many creatures I don’t love….
Testament to this are the animals portrayed in this exhibition - a brood which I have been growing over the last few years.
I continue to be inspired by animals and their movement; there is something unspeakably fascinating about watching an enormous bull elephant silently glide along, or the hilarity of a piglet dashing about. In my mind there is little more visually stunning than watching a horse in full flight - and I have recently been lucky enough to get close to some truly spectacular specimens on the gallops, as well as having a few other willing models strutting their stuff for my artistic benefit.
In each and every piece I try and capture the essence of what I feel from each beast or subject; whether in charcoal or oil, pastel or plastilin…. trying to get just the right line, or leaving it tailing off to the viewers imagination.
I love working en plein air as much as scribbling away at life drawing, or studying the light on a still life. But my beating heart of creativity will always be for the big beasts, so a trip last year to the South African bush was a highlight, and much of the subject matter here is as a result of a heavenly time spent there in the Timbavati.
I am incredibly lucky to have a very supportive family, many loyal clients and friends who all enable me to do what I love, and I am thrilled & honoured to be showing at The Osborne Studio Gallery.
I am also immensely grateful to Philip Elletson, as ever, for his framing brilliance, Mark Coreth for generosity of his expert eye and the amazing team at Morris Singer Foundry for their incredible skills in magically turning my work into bronze.
