Why I Paint
“I don't paint what I see. I paint what I feel.”
British abstract artist Sophie Heywood creates vibrant, intuitive paintings inspired by Mediterranean light, colour and the emotional experience of place.
Based in Andalucía, where she has lived for almost a decade, Sophie’s work is deeply influenced by the intensity of Spanish light — the deep blue of the sea, sun-warmed terracotta, peach skies at dusk and the sudden flashes of colour found in everyday life.
But her paintings are not literal interpretations of the landscape around her.
Instead, Sophie translates the feeling of being somewhere into colour, texture and movement. A summer evening. The heat of the sun on skin. Swimming in the sea. Light falling across a room. The feeling of finally slowing down.
Her paintings are abstract because she wants to leave space for the viewer.
One person might see the sea. Another might see a landscape. Someone else might see a memory, a place they have been, or simply feel happy looking at the colours. There is no right interpretation.
“You’re not buying my interpretation of the painting. You’re bringing your own.”
From fashion to fine art
Sophie’s route into painting was anything but conventional.
She began her career in fashion, brand and marketing, spending more than a decade working across the creative and commercial worlds, including several years at H&M.
While pregnant with her second child, Sophie was made redundant. What followed was a difficult and uncertain period, but it also created the space for something she had been quietly drawn towards for years: painting.
She began painting more seriously, initially without knowing where it would lead. What started as a creative outlet gradually became a complete change of direction.
Today, Sophie works as a full-time artist from her studio in Andalucía.
Art to live with
Sophie’s work sits at the intersection of contemporary art and interiors.
She believes a painting should be more than something beautiful to look at. It should become part of the atmosphere of a home — something you encounter every morning, something that catches the changing light, and something that becomes woven into the rituals and memories of everyday life.
But the experience of the painting belongs to the person looking at it.
The same work can feel completely different depending on who is standing in front of it, what they are feeling and what they bring with them that day. You might see the sea where someone else sees a sunset. You might notice a particular colour because it reminds you of somewhere you've been, while someone else is drawn to an entirely different part of the painting.
The painting stays the same. What you see in it can change.
For Sophie, that is the magic of abstract art.
She makes the painting. The viewer makes it their own.