We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sonia Chrystall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sonia below.

Sonia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I love painting large works – this is where the magic usually happens. There’s enough room to follow the twists and turns of the brush and let something unfold in its own way. But I really wanted to make original art affordable and accessible to everyone, while still paying my bills. I also wanted to express how I feel about the world, our spirituality, our connection to it all.

So now I also paint what I call ‘Heart Offerings’. They’re little A4 originals painted on high-quality paper ready to frame. And I usually write a quote that speaks to my soul underneath. They are cheap as anything and people buy them not only for themselves but as gifts to sisters, friends, daughters, mothers. It gives me a lot of pleasure when people realise they can afford them and the right quote lights up their eyes.

‘Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.’ – Rumi

Sonia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a painter – a lover of all things colour. I paint semi-abstract works celebrating the natural world and our place within it. Layers of colour both translucent and opaque, starting points and boundaries blurred, layers woven together. The delicate balance and interconnection of all.

I didn’t study art at school or university – I did what i considered ‘proper’ subjects. All my friends did painting and photography and I felt separate to this but so envious. I had a deep desire to pick up a paint brush, which rested under my skin like a living thing, but which I never properly acknowledged. So about 10 years ago when my youngest child started kindergarten I had a good talk to myself and asked myself why I thought I couldn’t paint when millions of people across the globe could. What kind of messaging was I telling myself, why did I think I wasn’t good enough? I gave myself 2 years to go to local teachers, give it a go and see what happened.

And what happened was so good…I found my voice. And I figured out that not only do I love to paint, but I found out how I love to paint – intuitively with no fixed plan. I start with colours I love and see what happens. I trust intuition to find balance and a composition that works. Intuition works in life too, when you trust in it. I thought about studying again and doing a visual arts degree then decided I’m way too old for that and that self-taught is perfectly okay!

Now I also write poetry and I’ve come to realise that how I paint, write and live my life – paying attention to the small things, to the things in nature that bring joy all come from the same place. I have a deep sense of interconnection and how we all fit together, and I feel brave enough to express that now through the canvas and in words. It takes some doing to get to that place sometimes. Now that I’m here I’m completely in love with my life.

I have the pleasure of selling my work in various NZ galleries, direct and via commissions. I offer prints and greeting cards and paint small affordable originals making art accessible. I love hanging out with my three children, walking my dog and writing words…..and when someone visits my studio and not only loves my work but connects to the intent behind it and takes a piece of bliss home with them in the form of a painting, my heart does a little sigh. That’s what it’s all about.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

I’m always hoping that people understand the interconnection aspect to my work. It’s wonderful if they respond to colour, or particular shapes – that alone is something good. But it’s even better if they can see that the shapes and colours weave in and out of each other in an intentional way. That the paint explores the line between order and chaos, between our thinking brain and our knowing heart, just as in life. There are thousands of quotes I love but the 13th century Persian poet and scholar Rumi has a certain way with words. ‘The very centre of your heart is where life begins. The most beautiful place on earth.’

I had a visitor to my studio recently. She stayed a long time, absorbing the paintings, letting them wrap around her. She shared that she has a difficult job caring for youth with troubled backgrounds and mental health problems. It took a lot out of her and she wanted to come home at night to something beautiful that gave her joy. In that moment it felt like we had something to give to each other. It was a gift to learn that she would enjoy a painting in this way.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The first big pivot was allowing myself to paint, almost 10 years ago. The second was more recently, when I could feel that the voice within still wasn’t expressing itself fully. I’d been reading the words of Mary Oliver – ‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’ – but not listening to them. So I decided to live by the sea. The perfect home came up straight away with a space I could convert to a street-front studio. It’s a wonderful community full of welcoming people and felt like home immediately (plus my children and dog love it here, so it must be right).

From there the right things have happened – a contract job with our local arts organisation with fabulous, interesting people. Being brave and sharing my poetry (which is like revealing your inner world so is really quite frightening), but having people respond at a deep level and ask if there’s a book. Lots of painting and commissions.

I’ve learnt that when your life is flowing in the right direction, it keeps on flowing. That you can have gratitude and love for all you’ve had but that it’s still okay to find another path. That what you’ve had can just take a on different shape in the present, and it’s healthy to allow that.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.soniachrystall.co.nz
• Instagram: @soniachrystallartist
• Facebook: @soniachrystallartist