Meet Sophie Peterson

We were lucky to catch up with Sophie Peterson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sophie, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Talking to people! Going down rabbit holes on archive.org. Watching movies, traveling, going to museums, watching more movies. Listening to people talk about what weird, esoteric things excite them. Working on projects with mediums that I don’t typically use.
And, I don’t care if it’s Park Güell in Spain or the House on the Rock in Wisconsin, my creativity has always been fed by visiting places that transport you to another world. As a production designer and a visual artist, it’s like both of the things I love combined into one! I just finished a residency in western France, where I lived in a 12th century castle, and it was so inspiring— getting out of my usual environment and seeing the world from a new perspective is so valuable.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I always joke that I feel like Barbie– I’ve had so many different, creatively focused jobs! It turns out that’s the perfect prerequisite for working in Production Design and Art Direction. I get to jump from a project where I’m building out a 16th century Spanish bedroom in a soundstage, to a 2010s blacklight party, to painting early 1900s miniatures for a stop-motion feature. My background as a visual artist has given me such a unique angle in this industry as well– not only do I get to incorporate my own artwork into so much of my broader projects, but if someone needs a duplicate of a renaissance oil painting or a gallery wall full of original artwork? I’m your girl.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Treat your artistic practice like it’s a real job, even if you don’t feel like it is yet. The world opened up to me when I embraced my colorful, feminine, stylized work as my signature instead of something that was on the way to “real” art.
2. Try to say yes to more projects and experiences, that’s where all of the adventure is!
3. Collaborate! Spend time with other creative people, and build relationships that are deeper than networking connections. Personally, I’ve found that working with arts-focused charities, like Art of Giving Foundation here in Chicago has been a great way to meet likeminded people while also giving back to the community.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am so lucky because I’ve had so many fantastic relationships and collaborations with other curious, artistically-motivated people, and I always try to leave myself open to more of those instances. I love working with people who operate within different disciplines than myself— writers, directors, designers, all of it. I think it brings so much more depth to a collaboration to have different perspectives and strengths. That’s what drew me to working in film and in production design in the first place, it’s like getting to be a director’s fairy godmother! Like, here, let’s take all of your ideas and translate them into this visual medium so everyone else can see the vision too!
My website, sophiecpeterson.com/contact, is the most direct way to reach me. I love picking up new projects when I’ve got a free moment, come say hi!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sophiecpeterson.com
• Instagram: sophiecpeterson

Image Credits

Nicc Raw