Lori Sonnier
Austin, TX
I am an oil painter living in Austin, Texas. My work is inspired by nature and beauty in design. I paint landscapes, architecture and florals.
Message
I was born in California but have lived in Austin for 20 years. Art has been a part of my life since I was a child. My mother was an artist, and I grew up playing with her art supplies and visiting many art museums.
In college, I studied biology and public policy at Pomona College. I also earned a master’s degree from Duke University in environmental management.
For 9 years after college, I worked in corporate environmental management in Los Angeles. During this time, I learned a lot about the impact human activity has on the environment, and I worked on goals to reduce that impact. But I missed creating artwork. I enrolled in art classes at night through UCLA Extension. There, I studied color theory, perspective drawing and elements of design.
In 2006, my family and I moved to Austin, Texas. I began taking painting classes in Austin through The Art School at The Contemporary Austin. (Laguna Gloria). I also did workshops with noted landscape painters Albert Handell and Julie Davis. I work primarily in water-mixable oils and am a member of the Oil Painters of America and the Creative Arts Society of Austin.
Statement
The natural environment is a continual source of inspiration to me, changing with the light, the seasons, and over years of time. I paint many landscapes and the way I choose my subject matter is because I feel a connection to it. As I go through life, sometimes I encounter scenes that linger in my mind—sort of like a pin on a map. When this happens, I want to paint what I am seeing. Sometimes I paint outdoors, and other times I take photos and paint in the studio from them. In either case, painting requires you to spend hours observing what you paint in detail. Where are the shadows? What colors are in front of you? What curves and angles do you see? I enjoy observing these things and recreating them on canvas. I hope that my paintings bring joy to others, and that they highlight some of the beauty that is around us in the world.