We had the good fortune of connecting with Sophia Barnes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophia, what are you inspired by?
I think I’m super inspired by people’s ability to persevere through hard times. Another big inspiration for me and my work is nature and spending time outside in the outdoors to come up with new ideas for my work.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It has not been easy. I feel like a big challenge for me has been actually just being a really sensitive person to noise and lights while a lot of these shows are extremely overstimulating lol… I also think probably the biggest challenge has been performance anxiety and shyness, I’ve always been shy about singing and showing off my art so it’s been a little bit of a challenge to open myself up a bit more. I’ve learned to definitely stop being such a perfectionist and to keep learning from constructive criticism as I go.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them camping for sure, somewhere where you can actually see the stars at night. I’ve been a couple places where you can see the whole Milky Way but I am gatekeeping them lol… I also would suggest checking out Aspen and the Maroon Bells hike, it’s super busy but definitely one of the most beautiful places to take pictures. To eat I recommend the food trucks in Denver over the restaurants, especially after COVID and a bunch were shut down.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My favorite book of all time is Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, it’s what made me believe in reincarnation as a teenager and started getting me thinking more philosophically about the world and its metaphysics. I love the way she thinks about death and life, and I think it’s very similar to how I feel about things as well.

Website: https://www.backtolumeria.com

Instagram: @sophiarae444

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soph444/

Other: groovyjupiter.com

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.