Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sonia Calderon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sonia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I got into abstract painting as a career when I decided I didn’t want to pursue digital arts during the first few years of university. I remembered that I was an artist at a very young age, and that I had the ability to channel spirit into my art pieces by expressing my thoughts and emotions with paint. I like the wetness and the forgiving and unforgiving aspects of painting—working with impermanent shapes that can be physically altered and taken away.

From 2012-2013 I studied pictorial arts, design and European history in Darmstadt, Germany, which inspired me further, and upon returning to California, I began painting prolifically, full time.

At that time, my nextdoor neighbor in Rio del Mar was a sculptor who participated in fine art juried art shows and festivals. He encouraged me to apply to some, so I started with my first show being Open Studios Art Tour in Santa Cruz. I was 27 years old, and my work received a great response. I applied for art shows, and at that time I had the confidence to walk into galleries that I thought would be a good fit for my work. So, a combination of serendipitous mentors and confidence to pursue what I like doing most are what helped me over the threshold of launching my career as an artist.

While my work tends to shift through various phases and literal obsessions, my process has always been to find inspiration in my immediate surroundings, especially in the natural world, as well as in observations of human life. Through the act of producing each painting, I move through my own personal experiences with people and my childhood.

I was living in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California when I launched my “Cityscape” series. That phase of my work is a juxtaposition of exterior spaces—abstracted sky, plants, roads and civilization’s architecture—with the internal landscapes of the heart and mind.

I begin all of my paintings with a collage. Before I even pick up my paint brush, I take snippets of images from magazines and my own photography, and arrange them to tell the story. The story is usually based on dreams, or places I’ve been, and whatever emotions I am processing. Images of people tend to show up in my cityscape and collage paintings. In the left portion of the painting “Lipstick City” appears a woman sitting with a hood over her head, watching over the city. That one was not actually intentional, and reminds me that art takes on a life of its own in the eyes of others.

I’m fascinated by the unseen—the stories of people, intimate settings, private settings in an interior space, which can be depicted with the things people choose to have in their spaces; a couch, an array of plants, a Madonna statue. Windows illuminated by light at night often appear in my paintings.

In that vein, my still life paintings often depict a scene I encounter that is either mysterious or has a broader concept, like alienation or neglect. The still life painting “Pink comb,” for instance, was executed from a photograph I took in a public storage parking lot in Santa Cruz, California, which is shared with the parking lot for Michael angelo art studios, where I rented a studio. I wanted to capture the curb, with its grass and wood shavings, and the oil stains that were a backdrop for a forgotten pink plastic comb. My vision blurs the lines of seen and unseen, to give enough question to the piece.

I created a fairly extensive series of Lip paintings. I became fixated on lips because they tell a story of each individual that speaks to all: love, tragedy, loss, belonging, serenity, sensuality. Some are more abstracted than others, depending on if I wanted to create more of a “pop art” bang, or a winded, dusty and enchanted landscape, a whistle of connection. The idea for this concept was wanting to expand on the importance of women’s voices. I wanted to have profiles of just the lips in the composition, and then blur them. They are also a vivid reminder of my late mother’s lipstick collection, which made an impression on me as a child.

I am also a swimmer, and more recently, my Pool series—which abstracts the horizon lines of swimming pools with the natural world, is a meditation on serenity and tranquility.

Sonia , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an American abstract painter with a Puerto Rican, African-American and European-American ancestral background. I create and sell contemporary and modern oil paintings and editioned signed prints.

I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I began painting at the age of five. I have light skin, compared to my sister, who was always asked if she was adopted—an impactful experience that has surfaced in my paintings.We were raised by a single mom, who was a criminal defense attorney and worked a lot. I remember her lipstick collection very vividly, and that she was a very sophisticated, smart woman. She also suffered from addiction, and our home life was unsettled. I wore very thick glasses as a child and was teased for it, but today I realize that the way I see the world gives my painting their ethereal, diffuse quality.
As a child I found solace in painting and in the outdoors. I was very curious about how things worked by examining things up close. I had an easel and couldn’t put the brush down. It was my outlet to the divine, and I found constant surprises and euphoria within each stroke of color. I loved to paint. Looking back on my childhood in Minnesota, I enjoyed the quiet snowy nights, and still lakes.

I am ecstatic that I am able to paint for a profession. I’d like my fans and followers to know that my work is created with astounding emotion and contemplation.

If my client is wanting a particular size or a custom painting they can reach out to me by phone or email. I always suggest following my socials and signing up for the mailing list, too.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

My “Bitches Eating Cheese” series, also known as “Abstract Figures” for a more PG audience, explored the complexities women have to go through in order to gain, sustain and regain power. It deals with concepts of drug addiction and guilty pleasure, and how sexists perceive women.

I wasn’t actually sure that the paintings would sell, but I followed my desire to explore these themes, and they ended up selling extremely well. I have had a lot of fun delivering paintings to my client, and remember delivering “Spa Time,” a painting from this series, with a friend. We were greeted with dinner and helped hang the painting over my client’s bed. This abstract figure, reclining with a spa mask over her eyes, is one of my favorites.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I send out monthly newsletters to clients through MailChimp. I also make sure to email anyone back within 48 hours to discuss any negotiations or painting inventory.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.soniacalderon.design/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonia.calderon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soniacalderonart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniacalderon/

Image Credits

no credits.