Reverie

/ˈrev(ə)rē/ noun

A state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream.

This state is uniquely yours.It is your decision whether you want to work through this state of observation and materialize it into something that can be shared. Belonging only to you, unless you choose to express it. The landscape of art has evolved and there is more potential for people to connect through something that is genuinely real, now more than ever. It is one of the few industries that still feels pure. It’s the intention behind the work that carries through, evoking a feeling that can open people’s minds and remind them there’s still a world that feels deeply human.

I sat down with Sophia Croasdale, to discuss her work as an artist and her upcoming series “Reverie”. Sophia’s work is an embodiment of this process, she draws inspiration from patterns and ordinary shapes and redefines them into something extraordinary. It’s beautiful to sit and discuss this process with Sophia, because so much of her work is so hard to articulate. Sophia’s art is a feeling, a pause and a conduit of raw emotion that she captures in her work. Sophia and I sat down on a dock on the edge of Lady Bird Lake, looking out at the water, and started to dig into what makes her art and style so unique.

“I think where I’m at as an artist is that so many things are exciting to me, and I don’t just want to paint the same thing over and over again. Every time I get an idea, I am super open to experimenting. It’s always patterns, and colors, but things are changing rapidly. The underlying theme is color relationships, illusion and the way that certain colors can be connected to

emotion. I think what I’m most interested in, for example, is how when you put a light blue next to an orange, it’s not what those feel like individually, but what they can feel like together. That can bring up so many feelings, and when you make a color slightly lighter, or slightly darker it can completely change the relationship it has or or how it feels next to a different color.”

She expressed that she has always been drawn to certain colors, but this body of work has been an experiment of working with new combinations that she may not be as comfortable with personally, but is really proud of how they ended up pairing together for this show. “When people look at my work, I’m not trying to make someone think of something specific. I’m not like,

‘oh, this dot is supposed to represent the sun,’” she laughs. “It’s not supposed to represent any one thing, it’s meant to evoke a feeling.”

Each piece for Sophia is its own meditation, she will start with a design, select a color palette, and then begin to paint. She says the process is a search for “what feels right”, which is an intensive and meticulous experience. Sophia laughs about how in her day to day life, she is a pretty laidback, carefree and a relatively spontaneous person, but her work is just the opposite.

She says, “It’s kind of funny to be so precise, organized, and intentional when it comes to my work. Honestly, I think my art and me as a person, balance each other out in a really unique way.”

In the world of art, we as artists constantly have to open ourselves up to criticism, and

judgement of our work. If anything, I hope on both sides of the conversation, both the artists and the consumer, can bring attention to how demanding this process of producing work can be. A lot of us aren’t doing what we do for the money, we are doing it because there is something deep inside of us that we refuse to let go of and really needs to be expressed. This comes out in so many different shapes and forms, for Sophia, it is through design and color, for others it may be through music, poetry, or the way in which you design your life. Not everyone is going to put a pen to paper, but art is the ability to take raw emotion and inspiration, and to turn it into something that is real, tangible in some sense and has the potential of being shared. Sophia’s work is exactly that, she dedicates her whole-self to her work, for her it is a transcendental process that allows her to explore her own psyche and find balance within her life. “When I am making my art, I get lost in each painting, it’s so repetitive and laborious, and takes so much time, that really, I lose track of time altogether. I’m just painting these circles over and over again, but with that, I am in my own head, and in my own meditation, so when a viewer looks at it, it’s a different type of meditation but I think they can totally fall into that.”

When I step back and look at Sophia’s work, that translates, it makes you take a breath and creates space in that moment in time. Meditation is exactly that, it’s simply taking a moment, to pause, to reflect, to bring awareness to the human experience that is swirling inside of us, and for some, that may sound like a headache. But when we allow ourselves to become familiar with unfamiliar territory, something incredible happens. We start to notice more of the world around us, inspiration is always present, waiting, and we begin to realize that this energy when recognized can be shaped into something tangible, something we and others can truly grasp. This is a practiced skill, and it is exactly that, repetition, that separates someone who is simply creating, from someone who is a professional in their line of work. Sophia brought up how setting goals has been really important in becoming the artist that she is today, “I think this is why my work is evolving so quickly, I try to produce one painting a week, and I am learning something every time I make a painting and my style is evolving itself more quickly”. She

touched on how much her style evolved when she was in art school from her first year, to her fourth, and how she transitioned into the style she continues to produce today. “Although, there is beauty in working slowly and taking your time, I think having such strict deadlines in school, taught me that if I stay consistent, and by not taking a ton of breaks between paintings, that helps me to keep thinking and keeps me inspired”.

When it comes to where she gets her inspiration for her work, Sophia expressed, “I tread very carefully, there is a difference in being inspired by other art, or being inspired by why another artist created something. I think what has been really powerful for me, has been removing myself from anything that’s similar. I go to a lot of museums, and galleries, but I will never create a piece that I feel looks like someone else's. There is something so special about creating something that has never been created before. I think what I am doing is pretty unique, and that is a big thing that my teachers pushed, to not copy what's already been done, and it’s really hard. Sometimes when I am having trouble finding inspiration, I will close my eyes, and imagine myself in an art gallery, I will imagine a really incredible painting on the wall, and then I will paint that.”

Artists in this day and age are expected to build their own brands, market themselves, and a lot of artists are constantly worried about how their work appeals to their audience. When really, they should be focused on the work itself, and we as consumers have to develop the eye and awareness that’s needed to recognize and appreciate when someone is doing something truly special.

Sophia and I discussed how refreshing it's been to have outside support from ORO, and the network around her that seems to be forming so organically, that allows her to focus on her work and feel taken care of in certain areas that may distract her from the work. That’s our job as curators, to protect artists and their process, to open doors, and provide reach into new arenas and introduce them to people we believe will fully appreciate the work that these artists pour into their work.

It’s not easy and really does take a certain type of person to bridge the gap and create spaces that will uphold the values and provide an experience that will do the artists’ work justice. I think ORO does an amazing job at creating these spaces and making people and artists feel truly valued, which is pretty rare in this current landscape. If anything deserves to be protected, it is that, and with your help we hope that we can continue to build and scale these opportunities and get more people involved in the art industry and creative scene than ever before. The landscape this digital age has provided, with its good traits and bad, does allow us to connect and expose one another to spaces that we may not have found as easily as before. And with that said, that is exactly what we are doing here. This is an invitation to interact, to follow along, and to support Sophia and so many other artists on their journey. Nobody wins by counting anyone out. This is an open format, where those who are ready and willing to contribute in any shape or form, even if that is just your physical presence, are invited. We hope it’s a gateway to a more authentic way of being, where you too can create space in your life and be inspired to think about what gift it is that you have to share with the world, even if that is just genuinely supporting others.

Sophia wants to encourage others to live in their own dreamstate and if they feel called to share it with others, to lean in. As you begin to express yourself in your own unique way, you’ll begin to realize that you are not alone. We are all calling out to one another, and our participation is more important than ever, and now is the perfect time to jump in.

FEATURED ART

NOTE FROM THE CURATOR

There is a moment, quiet yet profound, when art becomes more than what we see. It becomes a frequency that moves through us. Sophia Croasdale’s Reverie lives within that space between consciousness and color, repetition and release. Her work reminds us that to dream is to participate, to exist not as a passive viewer but as an active witness to our own interior worlds.

What stands out about Reverie is its calm confidence. The work is not asking to be understood, it is asking to be felt. In every precise circle and deliberate hue, Sophia creates a form of meditation, a return to stillness in an age that rarely slows down. Through the rhythm of her process, she builds a language of emotion that belongs both to her and to those who choose to pause and truly see.

At ORO, our mission is to create environments that protect and celebrate this kind of authenticity, where artists can grow, experiment, and share without compromise. Each exhibition aims to frame not only the work itself but the world that allows the work to exist. Reverie invites us into that world, to breathe, to notice, and to remember that art remains one of the most deeply human things we have.

— Joshua Winston, ORO