2024 Poster Artist

Sophie Barlow is an artist and digital illustrator born and raised in Salem Oregon. Sophie has considered herself an artist since she was a little kid. She attributes much of her motivation to pursue a career in the arts to the Salem Art Fair and Festival. Sophie has been going to the art fair since she was in a stroller. In fact, she hangs ornaments that she made at the fair nearly 20 years ago on her Christmas tree every year.

Sophie began her illustration journey working for student publications while earning her BA in Art and Technology at the University of Oregon. She found that she loved incorporating story telling into her digital pieces and has pursued this journey ever since. Most recently Sophie illustrated a children’s book, “Oakley, Mostly Good” and has been creating more editorial illustrations through her internship with NPR’s Next Generation Radio.

Even though much of her work is digital, Sophie still takes time to practice with the traditional mediums she grew up learning like drawing and painting. Sophie enjoys finding ways to incorporate multiple mediums across her creation process. In her personal work, Sophie explores themes of Juxtaposition, destruction, and self-reflection through a multimedia media collage process.

When Sophie is not drawing up illustrations, you can find her hiking, playing cards, sipping lattes at the Gov Cup, or traveling. Sophie loves to chat (often called a “yapper” by her friends and family) and is always looking for a new friend to share stories with.