Meet the artist using all colours of the rainbow to celebrate Northampton’s town and community

A Northampton artist and University of Northampton graduate has been painting the town red – and orange, purple, green, yellow, pink and blue – to celebrate the colour and vibrancy of Northampton town and its community.

Fine Art graduate, Sophie Slade has produced a series of eye-catching colourful depictions of Northampton landmarks as part of her collection, Paint The Town In Colour.

Launched after graduating from the University in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Sophie was keen to make a living from her art. This collection is a culmination of all her hard work since then, and is set to be on show for all eyes to see this weekend (Saturday 9 November) in the Grosvenor Centre.

Ahead of her exhibition taking place in the heart of Northampton, Sophie said: “I really love Northampton, and I like to think this shines through in my work. I enjoy bringing all our local businesses together in one place.

“My work is all about the community, offering people the opportunity to give paintings and greeting cards of places which mean something to them.

“When I’m packing and posting the cards, I get really excited thinking about where these will go, who they’ll be sent to, and where they’ll end up. “

During her studies, Sophie’s artistic ambitions received an upgrade thanks to the University’s Enterprise Boost scheme, which helps students and graduates to become self-employed and start their own businesses and social enterprises.

Sophie attended a series of free workshops covering self-employment, business models, social media marketing, taxation and business plans. Sophie also benefited from one-to-one coaching and is being mentored by the Enterprise Boost team, as her business develops. She also received £1,000 to put towards start-up costs.

“Across the last four years, my business has gone from strength to strength,” reflects Sophie. “I started with designing and selling greeting cards with my designs on (which I still love to do), but now I’m also teaching workshops and taking on commissions from across the country.

“The exhibition on Saturday feels like a huge celebration of all my work and everything I’ve achieved and created in the four years since graduating. I can’t wait for everyone to see it and enjoy seeing Northampton in a new, more colourful light!”

The upcoming exhibition is being held in the Grosvenor Centre this Saturday (November 9) and, like the rest of Sophie’s work, it will celebrate the landscapes, buildings and businesses that the town has to offer.

Sophie will also be hosting a free painting activity for people of all ages, and you can pay the exhibition a visit from 11am until 5pm upstairs next to River Island.

Find out more about studying Fine Art at the University of Northampton.