Sophie Dare (Dentiste) has been adding color to the First Coast since 1990. She has a BFA from UGA, in Graphic Design, and eloped with her husband from NC to Jacksonville.
Her early days were spent as a special needs parent while creating a business as a muralist along the First Coast. From Amelia Island and throughout Ponte Vedra Beach, it was a prolific experience of exotic gardens and wildlife aesthetics to transform a home with hand-painted art.
After the traumatic loss in 2002 of their first son, Joshua, at 8 to a rare heart disease, her art was a necessary outlet for healing, seeking beauty and inspiration in nature. He was always called our “Sunshine Boy” and left an indelible imprint on all who knew him with his loving, although he was non-verbal. Sophie struggled with such a profound loss but also felt inspired to share Joshua’s legacy and story with others.
She began to paint magnified blooms and butterflies and began to get invitations to speak, sharing her art, and a message of hope through grief and loss. Sharing her story in over 20 women’s conferences, Sophie was featured in NE Florida galleries and Press from 2006-2010.
Through the years she has expanded her creative abilities in various professions, teaching and growing other business entities. But in 2015, she was licensed with Prestige Art Trends, via the Furniture Market for select images of her “Back Home” series – country and coastal textured art that stemmed from memories of family farms in NC.
In 2022, she was encouraged to go full-time with her art practice and now has a small working studio in Orange Park, FL., teaching classes locally and online. She began to work in oils in 2023 and plein air (outdoor) painting experiences. Occasionally adding gold and silver leaf to her works, she finds joy in chasing the light – sunrises, sunsets, and the glimmers of hope we can glean in everyday, beautiful life.
She and her husband, Robert, have two married sons, and now she is Yia Yia to two grandbabies. Her artwork continues to focus on sharing the light while showing homage to her beloved life in the South.
