‘I am an art student at Varndean College, Brighton. As part of my recent project, my teacher suggested going to open houses to get ideas for our own art. I spent a day going round many of the houses and was particularly inspired by Sophie Wake’s art. Her many paintings of animals dotted around the home immediately caught my eye. The quirky style she uses doesn’t take away from the beauty of the animals she portrays but adds humour and expression, especially in the eyes of the creatures- some looking very grumpy (especially the cats!). Her compositions are simple- mainly one animal filling a small frame. This allows you to really focus on the creature’s stance. The art fits so nicely into the home- there are plants everywhere and the old wooden furniture complements it nicely. A lot of the art I do is based around the natural world so seeing this art gave me a new perspective on wildlife painting. I painted some of my own copies and have learnt a lot from her creative style. I was very pleased I decided to go and have a look!

Here are some pictures I took of the house, and my own art.’