Scribbled by Sophie: Brooklyn Dreamer and Illustrator
Two weeks ago today in Downtown New York City, a group of 16 women came together from around the world to connect, learn, celebrate and manifest an opportunity with Amanda Oleander. Workshops have become a dear and special place where support is undeniably given and new friendships are created in the process. Now, this certainly does not happen every single workshop. But the positive energy created from this event was something needed to be written about! Below is the story of Brooklyn-based creative Sophie Rutstein.
What made you ultimately make the decision to invest in this experience and be part of this workshop?
I have always considered myself a creative person. All that really means to me is that I feel best when I am exercising my creativity. When I signed up for Amanda’s workshop I was feeling overstretched, overworked and lacking the energy I get from creating. I had followed along for the last workshop that Amanda Oleander did, and from there I followed two of the artists who attended. Over the next several months I watched them grow and develop as artists with all of the energy they got from the workshop. I wanted to experience that! Also, my husband always says, the smartest financial investments come from investing in your own talents etc. So I decided it would be a good investment!
Tell us a little about your background as a creative. What details about your life inspire you to keep doing what you do?
I’ve always found joy in creating, but it has taken different forms for me. When I was younger I was all about theater, which evolved into filmmaking, which then became an obsession with making stop motion films… It was only fairly recently that I started drawing. About two years ago we got a polaroid camera and my husband suggested that I doodle around the pictures we were taking and scan the two together. I decided to try, and in the process I found a new passion. In the last two years my drawings have evolved, but I have never grown as much or as quickly as I did over the three days of the illustration workshop. It feels so empowering to know that it’s mostly consistency that you need, and anyone can do that!
What are some of your short-term goals you’d like to accomplish? And long-term?
An ever-present goal for me is to be able to spend more time making art. In order to spend more time making art, I need to be making more money off of my art so that I can focus on it more than I do on other jobs. I have two long term goals - one is to create more content for kids using my art. As a 5th grade teacher I have some understanding of what kids want and need in terms of media, and I would love to put more time and energy towards creating positive, interesting content for kids. I also dream of having a big workshop that is dedicated to art in its many forms. My husband is a music producer and we both love the idea of having a creative space that we can use but also that we can offer to others to enjoy. We would host workshops and events there, and also invite people to come and create in the space. One day...
Describe your creative style in three words.
Simple, playful, relatable.
What do you feel were your biggest takeaways from those three days together?
Growth is attainable as long as you are consistent.
If you are avoiding something because you don’t know how to do it, stop finding work-arounds, tackle it head on.
Humans are fundamentally good; they are kind, they want to help and they want to connect deeply.
