They say if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life, and this couldn't be more true for Roma artist Sophie Twidale.
Sophie, who is also a primary school teacher, is a prime example of this, having combined her passion for art and love of teaching with her 'paint and sip' events.
"When Ash at Handmade and Co. asked me whether I would run a paint and sip, I did not think at all that I would be able to teach that because when I paint I don't really think too much about what I'm doing, it just happens," Sophie said.
"But I did up a few lesson plans, just like I do when I'm teaching, and I gave it a crack.
"It's pretty cool, being a teacher, I had those skills and then getting to use those through my art was great, so it's a good little combo of my hobby and my actual career."
Having never attended a paint and sip event herself, Sophie said she may have been "winging it" at the beginning, but with several sold out events in Roma, Taroom and her hometown of Millmerran, it seems her classes are a hit.
"I just love being able to run an event that people can enjoy and get something out of, and hopefully they create something that they're proud of as well," she said.
"It's fun to do something that's totally different, it's nice to be able to give rural people an opportunity to do something that they're doing in Toowoomba and in Brisbane, but they're able to do it in their local communities as well.
"I think what makes my classes a bit different is that I let people choose their own colours, so that it matches their house or they can put their own spin on it."
Sophie said she has always loved art, describing herself as "obsessed with colour," but it wasn't until the COVID pandemic hit that she had the time to focus more on her artwork.
"I've always loved colour and I always wanted to paint, but I never really thought I would have a business," she said.
"Mum arranged for me to do a couple of lessons with a local artist from Millmerran when I was a kid and that inspired me to start actually painting on canvases, rather than just drawing.
"I began painting a lot more during COVID and it turned out that I had so many paintings, I couldn't fit them all in my house."
After starting an Instagram page for her artworks, people began enquiring about purchasing the paintings and soon enough, Sophie was doing commission works for her followers.
Growing up on a property near Millmerran, Sophie said her upbringing was a major inspiration for a lot of her artworks, which span from bright bouquets and pastel mountainscapes, to tractors and Brahman cattle.
"I'd say my art is pretty inspired by my upbringing," she said.
"We have some beautiful mountains around Millmerran, and there's one not too far from our place that you can hike up and from there you get the most beautiful view, so I've taken a million pictures from up there.
"I suppose I also get a bit of inspiration when I'm riding around and checking the cattle and things like that.
"It's usually very rural focussed and it's just the kind of things that are special to me."
