Sonia in her Studio

Award-winning artist Sonia is a New Englander through and through—and paints her portrait subjects in the New England states, nationally and is available internationally. She travels to her portrait subject's locations to meet them to start the portrait process.

Sonia's roots stretch throughout the New England states— she was born in the Boston area, is a graduate of Colby College in Maine, has family in Connecticut and has spent much time in all the featured spots in New England. Sonia’s love of art also stretches back as far as she can remember. Her painting style was immediately favorably noted upon by her childhood teachers at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston and the Colby Professor of Art. Sonia double-majored in English and Art at Colby. In addition to her studies in art history, Sonia painted at Colby. Upon graduation Sonia worked in graphic design and art direction. Those years of design/composition, collaborating with photographers to design photographs and communicating with illustrators she hired were invaluable and joyful.

Returning to her love of painting, Sonia began to seek out the nation’s leading painters, traveling nationwide to their studios and schools. She studied at the New York Art Students’ League, as well as at the Copley Society in Boston with the nation’s renowned artist Everett Raymond Kinstler, a second-generation student of John Singer Sargent, and the painter of six U.S. presidents and many luminaries. She also studied intensively with ERK’s nationally-known protégé Michael Shane Neal of Nashville, Tennessee. Locally Sonia studied and took workshops with artists Robert Cormier and Richard Whitney, who pass on the traditions and values of renowned Boston School artist R.H. Ives Gammell. She also studied with nationally-recognized master pastel portrait artist, Constance Flavell Pratt, learning nuances of pastel portrait painting.

Sonia mostly credits her significant growth in the past five years to the mentoring and teachings of Everett Raymond Kinstler and Michael Shane Neal. Mr. Kinstler recently wrote of Sonia’s portrait work, “Your portrait looks very accomplished and appealing.” Sonia was very pleased to see Mr. Kinstler receive his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists in Stamford, Connecticut in 2010.

Sonia with Everett Raymond Kinstler after he received his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists in Stamford, Connecticut.

Sonia was interviewed for “Wellesley This Week,” which aired on local cable TV, as well as featured in her town paper, the "Wellesley Townsman" and one of her award-winning paintings was recently published in the "Boston Globe."

Sonia has been honored to be asked to paint as a guest artist with the Putney Painters in Putney, Vermont. The Putney Painters are an invitational painting group established by renowned artists Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik.

Sonia is a member of the Portrait Society of America, the National Arts Club, Oil Painter’s of America, the Artist’s Fellowship, the Portrait Society of Atlanta, the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists and the Wellesley Society of Artists. In addition she is a member of the Wellesley Gardener's Guild and enjoys attending events such as the annual Boston International Fine Art Show. Sonia’s work hangs in private collections throughout the United States. She resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts.