My work as an artist has been to keep and pass down memories of the wonderful people who taught me so much.  They were not rich in monetary terms, but the lessons and the love they gave me were worth more than gold.  The past is a guide to the future.

Because my father was in the military, my childhood was spent moving from one place to the next. I always looked forward to the next new adventure and made good friends along the way who are still with me today.

In my work I want to explore culture.  The cultures of the peoples of African descent have been spread over many continents and have influenced and inspired cultures around the world. I want to show how the differences in cultures are minimal as compared to the likenesses. In other words we are all more similar than we are different.

The process of carving the surface of the scratchboard reminds me of the ancient relief work carved into pottery and clay surfaces used to commemorate events.

I like to tell stories with my work.  Sometimes there are double meanings to a scene and subtle detail so that the viewer has to look a couple of time to see all the detail.

I am a colorist. Pattern and color define my work.  My interest in color and pattern comes from watching the women in my family work with fabric. They  made their own clothes, later these clothes would become colorful prized quilts.  As a child my mother, who was a teacher early on loved art for her classes and taught me things that she learned, along with sewing. My grandmother and great grandmother taught me quilting.  My father always worked with his hands building things, from him I learned construction and layout.  All of these things combined with a natural talent have lead to a career in fashion and the art I create today.

Exploring and expressing my self in different mediums will always be a halmark of my work. The mediums I use are scratchboard, oil, linocut, watercolor, graphite, acrylic collage, pictorial quilts, and sculpture.  I believe  the path of artist is to never stop learning, improving and changing. I am enjoying the journey.

Sonia Lynn Sadler

© Sonia Lynn Sadler 2008 All rights reserved.