Sophia Choronzuk

Whether it’s through drawing, painting, photography, or my needle-felted wool sculptures, I use art to help capture and understand the meaning I find in the details in my environment that are often overlooked. I like to focus on capturing textures and colors through my camera, which I use to inspire what I draw and paint. While I study references of the people and animals that I illustrate, the composition and fantasy elements come from my imagination.

I find details through my camera lens. The photos I shoot allow me to find elements that I can study and implement in my illustrations and paintings. The process of illustrating is the first part of my painting process. If I like a concept enough to explore it more, I will usually turn it into a watercolor painting. These paintings are usually a more fanciful, romantic, and stylized take on my environment. Often, they are inspired by fairy tales and children’s book illustrations, such as those by Beatrix Potter and E. H. Shepard. I have found my relaxing creative release through needle felting. That is, creating small sculptures out of locally sourced wool by poking it with a barbed needle. The subjects of these sculptures are usually animals. However I also make small landscapes, which I combine with my love of all things vintage by placing the landscapes in thrifted teacups.

Imagination and creativity are what drive my art, but it is also what I hope to inspire in others through what I make. More than having an aesthetic interest, I want people to feel personally connected to my art. That is why I usually pair my illustrations, paintings, and needle-felted sculptures with poems or short stories that I have specifically written for the art. If people have felt some sort of peace or joy by looking at what I have created, or if they have found a message to take away, then I have done my job.