Rising Stars: Meet Sophie Graefenhain

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophie Graefenhain.

Hi Sophie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Growing up in the Chicagoland area, my parents put an emphasis on creativity, getting outside, and using our imaginations to get through long winters and hot summers. Art was a constant in our home…My mom is an amazing artist and business owner of Graefenhain Designs, and my dad is a talented marketing guru, bread baker, and knower of all things health and fitness. Observing my parents in their prospective fields led to my love of all art forms.

From a young age, I turned anything into something. Whether it was cooking, baking, painting, sewing, etc…I was always making something out of whatever I could find. This trickled into my high school years – concentrating on certain subjects was impossible so I would draw intricate designs and scenes on my arms related to each class. It was my way of taking notes (which eventually led to my tattooing hobby).

Once I navigated my way out of high school and through college, where I graduated with a Fine Arts degree, I didn’t have a clue what to do, so I moved to Kentucky where I began working as a barista. My love of light roast beans, latte art, and learning the world of coffee followed me when I moved back to Chicago and began teaching my espresso skills. This job led me to Boulder, where I taught latte art classes and roasted beans.

During my time in the coffee world, I began teaching myself different computer software on the side. Once I built up a humble design portfolio, I felt confident enough to make the leap. I started a job as an apparel designer for the outdoor clothing industry here in Colorado! As time passed, I continued to learn and grow in the design world and now work as a graphic designer for architecture and planning firm in Denver. With many years of hard work, I finally landed in a creative realm I never knew I would love so much.

All the while, I kept my fine art business going. Painting kept me afloat through every life change, and I owe a bit of my ability to find balance in chaos to oil painting. Portraiture, wildlife, landscape, still life, and impressionistic abstract are a few of my favorite subjects.

In addition to my passion for painting, I find peace in baking, cooking, designing, and any medium I can get my hands on. I feel as though my childhood love of ‘making’ has come full circle to where I am in life today.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
My road has been lovely, but turbulent at times.

The constant in my life has been the love of my family, close friends, and partner. From about the ages of 15-26, I struggled to cope with something that was thrown into my path, but with the steadfast support from my people, I was able to bounce back to myself time and time again. I have learned my resilience and ability to work hard are strong, and I now find so much joy in life.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My professional life is split into two worlds. The first is my day job working as a full-time integrated design and branding specialist for an architecture and planning firm. I love what I do, and continue to learn from the talented pool of folks I work with on a daily basis.

Secondly, I am a fine artist. I am known for my stylistic approach to impressionistic realism. I strive to capture emotion in all subjects and focus on bringing joy to my clients. I am most proud of my ability to evoke emotion through portraiture. A lot of my own feelings and phases of life are intertwined in each piece I create.

My intention is to help bridge the gap between fine art and the unique world of design.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some changes you expect to see over the next five to ten years?
I hope the architecture and planning industry will continue to evolve and grow toward sustainable and ethical practices. Affordable housing and green scaping are just two examples of how things can make changes for the better.

With my fine art, I strive to always focus on bringing light to someone’s life, and stay flexible and open to learning new ways of creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sophiegraefenhain.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophie_graefenhain/