A small studio

A very personal process

I am Sofia, the person behind Pointe Art In A Frame.

I have been creative my whole life, drawing since I was small, always gravitating towards the larger piece of paper, the bigger canvas. Somewhere along the way I was told that art would not get me anywhere, and for a long time I believed that. I put it down, picked it up, put it down again. Courses in still life, illustration, animation, fine art. Oil painting for friends. DIY miniature houses during lockdown with my children beside me.

I never stopped being drawn back to making things.

Then one day, I looked at a pile of retired pointe shoes and a broken frame, and something clicked. I created my first piece 'The peacock', and the response from the people around me stopped me in my tracks. My sister kept telling me to pursue it. Something in me knew she was right.

I searched to see if anyone else was doing it. I found artists decorating pointe shoes, but I could not find anyone using a pair of worn pointe shoes to tell a whole story inside a frame. That was the moment I knew.

I understand, more than most, why preserving memories matters. As a child, a drawing of mine won best in school, and it was lost. I never forgot that feeling. Since becoming a mother, I have kept everything. Every little thing my children have made or treasured lives in a keepsake box, safe. That instinct, to hold onto the things that carry meaning, is at the heart of everything I create.

I also love to dance and seeing my daughter's growing journey in ballet, I began to understand the world of pointe shoes from the inside, the dedication they represent, the hours they absorb, the stories they carry by the time they are worn. It is no accident that pointe shoes found their way to me. Looking back, it feels like everything was always pointing here.

When you work with me, you work directly with me. Every piece is made with my hands and my whole attention.