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For those who want to know more about me and my unique path, here are some keys to understanding my skills and experience gained over the last 20 years.

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A unique path for a self-taught illustrator

How can you be self-taught and have the experience of a professional?

Most of the time, either you have a professional training that guarantees your level, or you are self-taught and you spend years to acquire a professional level.

But not always.
You can also study theoretical art at university and learn the technique yourself thanks to what artists you’re studying had made.
You can also do voluntary work for many years before declaring yourself a professional.

Actually, one can be self-taught with a professional level, combined with experience and expertise in art history.

Which is precisely my case.

What more can I say about myself and what is my unique path?

But let me start at the beginning and introduce myself:

Hello, nice to meet you!

I’m Sophie Galinier Wheeler aka Lucy Dreams, a self-taught French illustrator returning to the profession after many adventures and detours.

Why a pseudonym and how I started

The unique path of Lucy Dreams

I chose the pseudonym Lucy Dreams to sign my very first illustrations as a teenager in 1992.
It seemed to me that this would better illustrate my love for British culture, the Beatles, dream worlds and puns than my birth name.

Therefore, when I started doing illustrations for commissions, I decided to keep it.
It was under the double name of Sophie Galinier aka Lucy Dreams that I signed my very first contract in 1998.

However, this timid attempt in the field of role-playing games and fanzines illustration allowed me to see that I still lacked the courage to prospect for clients and the necessary maturity to work as a professionnal.

Postgraduate studies and academic research in Art History

However, I was passionate about it and undertook a thesis on the golden age of the illustrated book which unfortunately did not find any funding.

So I ended the project to earn a living by working in various jobs in the cultural sector, libraries, training and even in the retail sector.

Reorienting my career to earn a living in natural health

Because I was very interested in natural therapies, I trained as a natural health practitioner.
After my degree I worked in this profession for some time.

I was earning a decent living, I had a loyal and satisfied customer base but I was not totally fulfilled in my work.

Returning to basics and officially setting up as a freelance illustrator

In fact, I missed creation and Art, terribly. To tell the truth I felt that I lived in apnea.
So I returned to pencils and brushes in order to breathe again.

Hence, the desire to live my passion and to be a professional artist was born again.

In March 2019, I stopped working as a therapist and decided to seriously grasp the nettle to become a freelance illustrator.

And now?

The rest of my journey has yet to be written, perhaps with you if you wish to entrust me with an assignment.

Do not hesitate to contact me for your projects, whether you are an individual, a company or a publishing house.

Passions and hobbies

Always keen and curious, I am interested in many different fields.

History of Great Britain; British Literature; British Culture.

Art History; Symbolist Art; Pre-Raphaelites; Art Nouveau; Art Deco; Medieval Art.

History of Fashion and Costume.

History of Illustration and Illustrated Books; Bibliophily Fantasy. literature;

Myths, tales and legends; Jungian psychoanalysis.

Role Playing Games; Video Games; Board and Board Games.

History of Cinema; Classical Cinema of the Early 20th Century.

Music : Classical music; Ancient music; Psychedelic; Metal; Jazz; Indian music...

Classical Ballet Dance; Modern; Contemporary; Tap; Indian Classical Dance.

Indian Culture; Chinese and Japanese Arts; Persian Miniature.

Phytotherapy; Traditional Chinese Medicine; Yoga; Micro-nutrition; Meditation.

Civil Rights Struggle; Feminism; Ecology; Permaculture Ecofeminism; Reclaiming.

Spirituality; Neo-paganism; Esotericism; Tarology.

More about me and my creative process

To get an overview of my work I invite you to visit my portfolio. It will show you the work I have done over the last few years.

This site also contains a blog where I sometimes post a few articles about my work, my current projects and the opening of commissions.

You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Patreon where I share my whole creative process with my Patrons.

However, if you’d rather support me just once in a while you can leave me a tip on my Ko-fi page.

Those who are interested in acquiring originals can visit my shop or contact me by email.

But if you would like to buy prints of my illustrations on textiles, stationery products or decorative items, you’ll have to visit the RedBubble print-on-demand shop.

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Where to find me online

Business and administrative informations

Professional information

Sophie Galinier Wheeler aka Lucy Dreams
Illustrator

Siret 529 814 386 00056
Code APE 9003A

Member of an approved association. 
Payment of fees by cheque is accepted but only for french customers.
VAT not applicable, art. 293 B of the CGI.
Intra-Community VAT FR 06529814386