Life in Africa - Kenya's Shepherd Girls Painting

Sonja was born on 14 January 1969 in South Africa’s Jacaranda city, Pretoria. She spent her first few years in the quiet (and hot!) towns of Messina and Phalaborwa, after which her family moved to Roodepoort. Here she spent her school years, matriculating in 1986 at Roodepoort High. It was at school that her passion for art already started. Still in primary school, Sonja and her cousin (today an artist himself) often painted on wooden off-cuts from their grandfather’s business and ‘exhibited’ their works in the garden. After school she studied Communications, later specializing in advertising and journalism. She is a self-taught artist. She spends many hours studying art, art techniques and artists – both the old masters and contemporary artists. For her, art is a process of continuous learning and discovery. She likes to challenge herself in every artwork, working with a different pallet and theme than the work she has just completed. For her, “Art is a journey, and one wherein you discover parts of yourself you never knew existed”. Sonja enjoys drawing and painting in pastels and in oils. Whenever possible, she paints from her own photographs. She is always looking for subjects to paint – camera in hand wherever she goes. “For me, photographs are about light and texture. Art adds another dimension – feeling. If you work from your own photographs and experiences, you can reflect that feeling... adding a little bit of your heart and soul into your work.” As the wise Aristotle once said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance”.