Sophie Tea

Sophie Tea
Tea in studio in 2026
Born
Sophie Terry

(1993-01-21) 21 January 1993 (age 33)
OccupationVisual artist
Websitesophieteaart.com

Sophie Terry (born 21 January 1993), known professionally as Sophie Tea, is an English contemporary visual artist. She opened up galleries in Australia and London and also launched the social media series "Charity Shop Friday" in 2024.

Life and career

Tea was born Sophie Terry in Wolverhampton and raised in Birmingham and Northwich, Cheshire. She graduated with a business degree from Aston University and visited India as one last trip before starting a job as a consultant in London. After running low on funds, Tea painted a picture of a multi-coloured cow over a hostel's graffitied wall in exchange for accommodation. After receiving positive feedback, she left her job and began painting nudes. After moving back in with her parents, she set up the Yoke app linking artists with buyers and sought investment for it, but aborted that idea at the behest of an investor.

Tea's Carnaby Street branch

After tiring of trawling Google for naked women to paint, Tea asked her female Instagram followers to send photos of themselves nude; among the respondents were an eighty-year-old and people with self-harm scars, stoma bags, and stretch marks. She opened galleries in London's Carnaby Street and Sydney in 2020, having moved to the latter by the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. By February 2021, her works also included paintings of multi-coloured hearts, slogans, and a homage to McDonald's fries. After returning to the UK, she launched a social media series "Charity Shop Friday" in 2024, in which she visited a charity shop, bought an item, painted it, returned it for the same price, and then raffled her painting for charity.

References

  1. ↑ Tea, Sophie [@sophieteaart]; (21 January 2019). "I'm 26 today". Retrieved 14 April 2026 – via Instagram.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Why thousands of people send this artist their nudes". Cosmopolitan. 10 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Head, Ally (20 September 2021). "Meet Sophie Tea, the artist guaranteed to make you feel good about yourself". Marie Claire UK. Archived from the original on 9 September 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  4. ↑ Scullard, Vickie (18 August 2019). "'I guess I had a chip on my shoulder about being told I wouldn't be successful': The childhood hobby that's making a million for a former papergirl". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  5. ↑ Dyer, Lucy (8 November 2016). "From Postman Pat to The Times: Hundreds of artists set to showcase talent at diverse Wimbledon art show | SWLondoner". South West Londoner. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  6. ↑ Back, Grace (28 May 2019). "How This Artist Revolutionised The Art World Using Her Pure Talent And The Power Of Instagram". marie claire. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Fuamoli, Sosefina (2 October 2019). "Sophie Tea talks goals beyond 'glitter boobs' and Tinder for Art". The Brag. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  8. ↑ Gray, Madeleine (17 September 2021). "Fed up with sexism and snobbery, these artists are reclaiming women's bodies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Oxfordshire: TikTok star Sophie Tea brings art event to Witney". BBC News. 31 August 2024. Archived from the original on 1 February 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2025.