ABOUT
Sophie Mcilwaine is an artist specialising in highly detailed pencil images of architectural subjects. Trained in Architecture and Building History at Cambridge University, Sophie is fascinated by the stories contained within a building.
She combines traditional hand drawing techniques with a practical and theoretical understanding of architectural history.
TRAINING
After graduating in Architecture from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Sophie worked for Richard Griffiths Architects in London, collaborating on highly sensitive restoration projects including Hawksmoor's St Alfege Church, Bedales School and The Charterhouse Great Chamber. She has also worked as a designer and consultant for contemporary architectural practices in London and Devon.​
​​
In 2018, Sophie's passion for the stories behind historic structures led to a Master's degree in Building History at Cambridge. As well as a broad knowledge of British Architectural History, this required practical building investigation and rigorous documentary research. Sophie's later research has focused on the Georgian Period, and she gained a Distinction for her dissertation on Picturesque Villas and Landscapes on the River Dart.
​
In 2023, Sophie was selected as one of five artists for the Kingsbrae International Residency for the Arts, an experience that led her to relocate to Canada.
CURRENT PRACTICE
Now based in St. Andrews, N.B., Sophie works on commissioned drawings of architectural subjects around the world. She has exhibited in juried shows across Canada, Europe and the USA. Sophie was one of two artists-in-residence at the Tides Institute in Eastport, USA (2025), and recently published Eastport: An Architectural Sketchbook based on her work there.
Sophie is an accredited Professional Artist in the province of New Brunswick (ArtsLinkNB) and has taught a variety of workshops on drawing, perspective and urban sketching. She is a member of several local committees supporting the preservation of the historic built environment.
​​
PUBLICATIONS
Sophie's article, ‘The Changing Nature of the Villa on the Dart Estuary 1769-1849’, was recently published in The Georgian Group Journal 2022, the authoritative journal of record for early modern architecture in Britain between 1660 and 1840.
It aims to highlight the mysteries and contradictions of these romantic retreats, built to escape from the increasingly industrialised world of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century.
