Artist
Eileen Alice Soper RA
1905 - 1990
Eileen Soper was born in Enfield in 1905. Her father, George was a famous etcher and engraver who tutored her in the art of engraving.
In 1908, the family moved to Hertfrodshire, to a house with a very large garden that Eileen and her sister, Eva, later named "Wildings".
From an early age, Eileen excelled in portraying children and by the age of 15 years, had 2 etchings of children at play, exhibited in a Royal Academy Exhibition. Before this, though, her work had already been exhibited in America.
In the 1930's, Eileen started illustrating for Enid Blyton and over a period of 20 years, she had illustrated 150 Blyton books, including all the Famous Five series.
In the mid 1940's, after becoming intolerant of the demands of Enid Blyton, who always seemed to want to change illustrations (in Eileens opinion, for no good reason), she started to focus on writing her own books and concentrated on illustrating animals and nature, mostly inspired by that found in her beloved garden at "Wildings".
After the death of her father, Eileen and her sister Eva continued to live at "Wildings" until they both had to go to hospital and then into a nursing home. Both sisters died in the same year, 1990.