Le pont de St Martin de Bouillac huile sur toile Painting

Sonja Britz was born in Durban, South Africa, and has an MA in painting from the University of Natal. She has since had solo exhibitions in South Africa, the UK and France. In 2012, she bought a house in the Aveyron on the banks of the Lot and began making paintings of the river’s surface and its reflections. Her current work is a product of observing the constantly changing surface of the river over several years; her subject’s appearance changes with the sun, the wind and the seasons. Not only is the river endlessly flowing, its surface reflections are equally fluid and fleeting whether they show the woods changing through the year, or the constancy of the bridges. Whilst today we think of the river is a flow of nature, throughout history the Lot has been also been a cultural conduit for the flow of people, goods and ideas. The river has many bridges that have facilitated the flow of culture. One can view the flowing of river and culture as similar historical forces that bring geological and cultural interaction and change.