Sophia Murray Art

About

Sophia, is an artist rooted in the vibrant town of Sligo, originally hailing from Drogheda, Co Louth. 
Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from ATU Sligo (I.T Sligo) in 2006, she spent an enriching year installing and invigilating exhibitions at The Model Arts Centre. Among the notable works she contributed to were Gerard Byrne’s ‘1984 and Beyond,’ Sean McSweeney’s ‘Retrospective,’ and the iconic Andy Warhol exhibition, ‘The Eternal Now: Warhol and the Factory ’63 – ’68’. 
In 2009, Sophia co-founded ArtMart Studios, a self-initiated art space. Over two thriving years, ArtMart Studios played host to numerous group and solo exhibitions including Culture Night 2009/2010 and Cairde Festival 2010.

Seeking to explore the art of storytelling through images, Sophia attended a 24 week course in illustration tutored by illustrator Adrienne Geoghegan. Not long after, the inception of Flowermoon Studio began, where she crafted bespoke illustrations for small businesses and private clients. Her own creations, including greeting cards, badges, and prints, found homes at various markets.
In 2014, Sophia participated in ‘Pigs on Parade,’ a public arts initiative by The Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation. Her whimsical creation, ‘Goddess Pig,’ was auctioned to support the cause. The following year, she was given the opportunity again with ‘Hares on the March,’ painting ‘Ziggy O Hare: Time Traveller.’
In 2017 her artistic skills extended into the realm of publishing when she was commissioned to craft a collection of watercolour spot illustrations for ‘The Get Up and Go Daily Planner for Busy Women’ (2018 edition). Her delightful creations still grace the planner’s newer editions today.
Sophia joined The Weir Gallery in 2019, a co-op art space, exhibiting and selling her artwork alongside local artists. During her two years there, she took responsibility for the upkeep of its website and social media platforms and contributed her talents in creating the gallery’s heron logo.

During 2021 she further elevated her skills by learning pattern design. This paved the way for a transformation of Flowermoon Studio into a hub for surface pattern design. May of 2023 marked another milestone in her creative journey, when she attended Evolution, an International B2B surface pattern show in Amsterdam.

Artist Statement

The objective in my artistic process is the desire to stimulate eyeballs. My aim is to intrigue and immerse their curiosity in a world of colour, texture, and form. From my earliest days, the natural world and storytelling have been captivating forces in my life. My childhood was woven with the threads of mythologies, fairy tales, and the magic of Sci-Fi/Fantasy films and animation. I would spend hours gazing through pages of my Dad’s collection of Jacques Cousteau’s, Ocean World encyclopaedia, David Attenborough’s Life on Earth and The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics, edited by Alan Aldridge.

As an artist today, I enjoy creating my own paracosm, a realm that celebrates the inherent beauty found in nature. Within this realm, I reimagine familiar flora and fauna, constructing vibrant and psychedelic botanical landscapes.
My preferred medium is watercolour, valued for its versatility when combined with other mediums and the enchanting effects it makes on paper. In addition to watercolour, my artistic toolbox includes acrylic paint, ink, colouring pencils, fine liner pens, and, on occasion, a sprinkle of glitter.
When playing with collage, I introduce my own digitally crafted pattern designs, seamlessly blending the digital and traditional aspects of my work. This juxtaposition adds a unique dimension, allowing the viewer to experience my creations through both digital and traditional lenses.

My practice explores the relationship between biodiversity, cultural heritage and storytelling, drawing on historical craft traditions to create contemporary visual narratives. Working across watercolour, mixed-media painting, collage and digital pattern design, I combine hand-drawn botanical motifs with decorative forms inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and the vibrant design language of the 1960s.

Research sits at the heart of my practice. I am fascinated by the ways in which people throughout history understood and celebrated the natural world through art, mythology, craftsmanship and ornament. Rather than recreating the past, I reinterpret these traditions through a contemporary lens, exploring how heritage can remain a living, evolving source of inspiration.

Nature is both my subject and my collaborator. Plants, flowers and wildlife become visual storytellers, revealing the interconnectedness of all living things while inviting reflection on our own relationship with the environment. Through pattern and painting, I seek to create work that celebrates biodiversity, honours traditional craft and encourages a renewed sense of wonder for the natural world.

Ultimately, my work is about connection: between past and present, people and place, art and ecology. By weaving together heritage, nature and contemporary making, I hope to create work that reminds us that beauty, craftsmanship and our relationship with the living world remain deeply intertwined.