INSPIRED BY COAST AND SKY
A lifelong connection to creativity and the local landscape shapes this Warkworth artist’s fluid practice.
Sonia Fraser was first inspired to pursue art as a child by her grandmother, who had attended art school in Wellington. While she studied art through college and later worked as a graphic designer, it wasn’t until after moving to Warkworth and the birth of her daughter that Sonia shifted direction and began exploring art more formally.
She initially took painting classes with a local tutor before studying part-time at Hungry Creek Art & Craft School, completing a Level 7 Diploma with a major in painting in 2013. Sonia valued the immersive nature of the experience – studying art, connecting with other talented creatives, and exploring a range of disciplines including ceramics, sculpture, jewellery, and painting.
During and following her studies, Sonia established relationships with Auckland and local galleries, exhibiting in shows and group exhibitions. Joining the Mahurangi Artist Network has offered another opportunity to collaborate with fellow artists and participate in the recent opening of the Mahurangi Artist Network Gallery in Matakana.
Sonia paints in oils on canvas, with seascapes and landscapes as her primary subjects. Her works are developed slowly, layer upon layer of oil paint, building depth and detail over hours of careful work.
Using her own reference photographs as a starting point, she reimagines and rearranges elements to suit the perspective and look she wants to achieve – creating compositions that feel familiar without depicting a specific location. Her paintings often evolve organically as she works.
Her ongoing series, Over the Edge, draws inspiration from coastal walks along the local shoreline and Northland’s east coast, evoking the sensation of being suspended in space or dangling over a cliff's edge. Trees are another recurring motif in her art, often paired with the wild, stormy skies that have shaped them. More recently, she has begun a new body of work inspired by time spent in Fiordland.
Sonia sells her work through galleries, exhibitions, commissions, and by appointment from her new home garden studio.