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sonja rue

artist

art from the inner wilderness

Original Paintings

Shop the Collection

Original paintings, canvas and brushed metal prints, wearable art, home decor

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ghost for web.jpg

sonja walk forest

butterfly stag metal product shot 1.jpg

sonja and norbert fishing 1979 for web.jpg

Support Slocan swung by to do an interview and ask me about my art and business - see the article here

support slocan valley pic1.jpg

ghost F2

Somebody planted flowers F2

I happen to have one of these metal prints of “Owl Medicine” available. 24x12 on sale now for $250 (regularly $375) - comes with standoff mounting hardware

I happen to have one of these metal prints of “Owl Medicine” available. 24x12 on sale now for $250 (regularly $375) - comes with standoff mounting hardware

Feb 2 - beauty every day (almost 😉) from my photo diary

Feb 2 - beauty every day (almost 😉) from my photo diary

This is a graphic I did for the cover of my dad’s last book of poetry “Words that forgot they exist”
Along with a poem I wrote during his dementia journey

This is a graphic I did for the cover of my dad’s last book of poetry “Words that forgot they exist”
Along with a poem I wrote during his dementia journey

Share what you do stand for. Not just what you’re against.
Please

Share what you do stand for. Not just what you’re against.
Please

Jan 17 - Beauty everyday - There's some colour still

Jan 17 - Beauty everyday - There's some colour still

Jan 15 - Beauty everyday - feeling the light slowly returning

Jan 15 - Beauty everyday - feeling the light slowly returning

Jan 12 - Beauty everyday - Water Nipples!! 🤪

Jan 12 - Beauty everyday - Water Nipples!! 🤪

There's a ferry boat in Hampi, India that is a 10 foot water-tight basket that crosses a narrow river. The captain of this ferry uses a long pole to twist and turn the ferry in unison with the slow current to make it across. On the opposite shore is the captains home, a simple hatched hut for his family, his wife, his children and his father. The outside wall of the hut is decorated with a large poster from the movie "Titanic". I just love this moment. It was 27 years ago. It reminds me of how absolutely beautiful and challenging life can be when we step outside our comfort zones and just look and listen without any judgment except delight.

There's a ferry boat in Hampi, India that is a 10 foot water-tight basket that crosses a narrow river. The captain of this ferry uses a long pole to twist and turn the ferry in unison with the slow current to make it across. On the opposite shore is the captains home, a simple hatched hut for his family, his wife, his children and his father. The outside wall of the hut is decorated with a large poster from the movie "Titanic". I just love this moment. It was 27 years ago. It reminds me of how absolutely beautiful and challenging life can be when we step outside our comfort zones and just look and listen without any judgment except delight.

Jan 11 - Beauty everyday - one drop at a time while thawing

Jan 11 - Beauty everyday - one drop at a time while thawing

Jan 9 - beauty everyday

Jan 9 - beauty everyday

Jan 8 - Beauty everyday - find grace in the freeze

Jan 8 - Beauty everyday - find grace in the freeze

Jan 6 - Beauty everyday photo journal.

Jan 6 - Beauty everyday photo journal.

Jan 5 - beauty everyday - from my daily photo journal.
Jan 5th (2018)
In that sedentary, imaginary, airy world of zeros and ones we make up reflective value as we go along, not really knowing ourselves. Life becomes a style masquerading as reality. So here’s a winter river shoreline, really close up. take a moment to listen.

Jan 5 - beauty everyday - from my daily photo journal.
Jan 5th (2018)
In that sedentary, imaginary, airy world of zeros and ones we make up reflective value as we go along, not really knowing ourselves. Life becomes a style masquerading as reality. So here’s a winter river shoreline, really close up. take a moment to listen.

Jan 4 - Beauty everyday. On this day in 2019 - from my daily photo journal

#dailyphotography #dailyphotojournal #winterphotography #canadianartist🇨🇦

Jan 4 - Beauty everyday. On this day in 2019 - from my daily photo journal

#dailyphotography #dailyphotojournal #winterphotography #canadianartist🇨🇦

Beauty everyday - Jan 3 - from my daily photo journal.

Beauty everyday - Jan 3 - from my daily photo journal.

Beauty everyday Jan 2 - this pic is from 2018 but interestingly the moon is at pretty much the same phase this year. Happy full moon tomorrow

Beauty everyday Jan 2 - this pic is from 2018 but interestingly the moon is at pretty much the same phase this year. Happy full moon tomorrow

Beauty everyday - Jan 1st - I'll be posting a pic a day from my daily photo sessions over 3 years

Beauty everyday - Jan 1st - I'll be posting a pic a day from my daily photo sessions over 3 years

I experimented w landscapes a bit over the summer. Finding my own style for landscapes has been challenging and I’m still not sure I’ve found it. But here’s one attempt

I experimented w landscapes a bit over the summer. Finding my own style for landscapes has been challenging and I’m still not sure I’ve found it. But here’s one attempt

Trying to express my love for the world through painful truth-telling art has been exhausting. So here’s a piece of my delight instead. I don’t care anymore if it looks like a cartoon and not “serious art”
Who cares, if it makes you smile that’s enough for me.

Trying to express my love for the world through painful truth-telling art has been exhausting. So here’s a piece of my delight instead. I don’t care anymore if it looks like a cartoon and not “serious art”
Who cares, if it makes you smile that’s enough for me.

I finished this large piece quite a few months ago. It’s painted overtop a failed landscape experiment (actually 2 of them) so it’s got a lot of undercurrent texture that was perfect for the tree trunks and rocks.
It’s very large 5ft by 4ft. I love working on big canvases but I never quite know what to do with them when I’m done 😂

I finished this large piece quite a few months ago. It’s painted overtop a failed landscape experiment (actually 2 of them) so it’s got a lot of undercurrent texture that was perfect for the tree trunks and rocks.
It’s very large 5ft by 4ft. I love working on big canvases but I never quite know what to do with them when I’m done 😂

Cloud magic - this time last year

Cloud magic - this time last year

Tree of my childhood

Tree of my childhood

“Growing without knowing” pencil and ink on paper. Part of my “characters of creativity” mini series

“Growing without knowing” pencil and ink on paper. Part of my “characters of creativity” mini series

A peek into my studio and art practice
More on my website
sonjarueartist.com

#ruralartist #canadianartist #natureartwork #paintingwithacrylics #storytellingthroughart #artstudıo #artstudiotour #narrativeart

A peek into my studio and art practice
More on my website
sonjarueartist.com

#ruralartist #canadianartist #natureartwork #paintingwithacrylics #storytellingthroughart #artstudıo #artstudiotour #narrativeart

“Tears weave worlds”
Illustration / mixed media print on canvas
$220

“Tears weave worlds”
Illustration / mixed media print on canvas
$220

I started this drawing series quite a few years ago. The voices along the way in the creative journey (and just in life) are varied and powerful, some help, some hinder, all make us examine our process and interior life

I started this drawing series quite a few years ago. The voices along the way in the creative journey (and just in life) are varied and powerful, some help, some hinder, all make us examine our process and interior life

Photo by me 2019

Photo by me 2019

More from my photo journal <3

More from my photo journal <3

Throwback to my photography before I got obsessed with painting

Throwback to my photography before I got obsessed with painting

That time in Nepal so many years ago.
One of my favourite pics

That time in Nepal so many years ago.
One of my favourite pics

“It’s ok, I got you” from my Polar Opposites series. The original framed painting is still available. Acrylic on canvas 20x24 framed in cherry wood $400

“It’s ok, I got you” from my Polar Opposites series. The original framed painting is still available. Acrylic on canvas 20x24 framed in cherry wood $400

Harkening back to the most fun paintings from my Polar Opposites series from a few years ago. These 2 originals sold but I can make prints on canvas, posters, cards etc, maybe even Tshirts someday 🥰

Harkening back to the most fun paintings from my Polar Opposites series from a few years ago. These 2 originals sold but I can make prints on canvas, posters, cards etc, maybe even Tshirts someday 🥰

Let’s use this platform for inspiration instead.
Stick it to the Man
Whoever you decide he is

Let’s use this platform for inspiration instead.
Stick it to the Man
Whoever you decide he is

This is one of my favourite art pieces of all time. Artist is Chiara Bautista. This piece so speaks to my nostalgia for the seemingly simpler times of the 80s and 90s and how it was to grow up in those decades.
I’d like to do more art that tells stories in this way

This is one of my favourite art pieces of all time. Artist is Chiara Bautista. This piece so speaks to my nostalgia for the seemingly simpler times of the 80s and 90s and how it was to grow up in those decades.
I’d like to do more art that tells stories in this way

Thanks for all the birthday messages and love. Means so much to hear from all of you. Helps me remember how connected I still am despite a few years of being rather reclusive. But hearing from so many old friends from those formative years is beautiful, we went through so much together and/or in each other’s spheres and share so many precious memories. There’s an inherent sense of belonging w you that keeps me feeling warm. Thank you!
I paddled to the middle of the river and tied myself to a log, hung out w a little frog and a couple dragonflies in the sun and just listened to the world for a bit. A little rave-practice with Luke in my studio and of course some hours painting. 48 is a trip, lots of internal shifts I don’t fully understand yet but there’s a feeling of peace and belonging that I’m enjoying 🤪🥰
Love you so much

Thanks for all the birthday messages and love. Means so much to hear from all of you. Helps me remember how connected I still am despite a few years of being rather reclusive. But hearing from so many old friends from those formative years is beautiful, we went through so much together and/or in each other’s spheres and share so many precious memories. There’s an inherent sense of belonging w you that keeps me feeling warm. Thank you!
I paddled to the middle of the river and tied myself to a log, hung out w a little frog and a couple dragonflies in the sun and just listened to the world for a bit. A little rave-practice with Luke in my studio and of course some hours painting. 48 is a trip, lots of internal shifts I don’t fully understand yet but there’s a feeling of peace and belonging that I’m enjoying 🤪🥰
Love you so much

A bit of a painting dry spell the past few months so I’m revisiting my old photography work from before my painting journey started.

A bit of a painting dry spell the past few months so I’m revisiting my old photography work from before my painting journey started.

Be the verb, not the noun.
Example: “I want to show that I’m a good person” vs, Do the the next good thing available to you.
Example: a child in the playground is singing, people notice her beautiful voice and say “you should become a singer” …. But she already IS
“I want to be an artist” vs “ I make art everyday”
Dont strive to be the noun, be the verb.

Thoughts inspired by Luis Gilbert and Mark Nepo from podcast “Magic Lessons”
Art by me + dancing sunlight on canvas

Be the verb, not the noun.
Example: “I want to show that I’m a good person” vs, Do the the next good thing available to you.
Example: a child in the playground is singing, people notice her beautiful voice and say “you should become a singer” …. But she already IS
“I want to be an artist” vs “ I make art everyday”
Dont strive to be the noun, be the verb.

Thoughts inspired by Luis Gilbert and Mark Nepo from podcast “Magic Lessons”
Art by me + dancing sunlight on canvas

Reprint from 2024 - grateful for no fires or smoky skies yet this summer (first one in 5 years here) - but all of this is still relevant....

The 7-10 year old boys playing soccer behind me at the nature park today, thin smoke getting thicker in the space between us.
 One asks the other “are you on evacuation order?”
 “No” says the other
 “What, why?”
 “We just aren’t “ 
“We are”
 “I know”
 “How’d you know?”
 “My mum told me, but she told me not to tell you” 
“Why?” 
“Because of how you’d freak out”
 “Ok” says the one boy skeptically  .

40 years ago they didn’t tell us about the greenhouse gasses and the fossil fuel dangers and the ozone layer and plastic islands.
Because they didn’t want us to be afraid.  But really THEY didnt want to be afraid.

 So they pretended it wasn’t real .
To protect their future lived through us  .
We might have freaked out .
Some of us did, we who had parents who didn’t lie about it.
 We tried to speak. But were buried.
Or mocked  
Or rendered silent by allures of mainstream progress.
  I don’t usually write like this...  I mean, I did...
 When I was a child  
But I was told it was angsty 
And cheesy, and juvenile  
So I tried to sound intelligent through nuance  
But  Actually  
You need to tell your kids the truth.
 They have insights we may have forgotten.
 I know you don’t want them to be afraid.
 But they are anyways 
And if you lie to them and hide the truth they will know anyways 
And will be more afraid  
And will question their own intuition  
And they will question their faith in you.  
They have solutions our brains have already discounted but that could still help.
 Listen to them, be honest, admit that you are scared too, and stay close to their/your hearts,  
Denial is how we got here, be different

art and words by me - mixed media collage

Reprint from 2024 - grateful for no fires or smoky skies yet this summer (first one in 5 years here) - but all of this is still relevant....

The 7-10 year old boys playing soccer behind me at the nature park today, thin smoke getting thicker in the space between us.
 One asks the other “are you on evacuation order?”
 “No” says the other
 “What, why?”
 “We just aren’t “ 
“We are”
 “I know”
 “How’d you know?”
 “My mum told me, but she told me not to tell you” 
“Why?” 
“Because of how you’d freak out”
 “Ok” says the one boy skeptically  .

40 years ago they didn’t tell us about the greenhouse gasses and the fossil fuel dangers and the ozone layer and plastic islands.
Because they didn’t want us to be afraid.  But really THEY didnt want to be afraid.

 So they pretended it wasn’t real .
To protect their future lived through us  .
We might have freaked out .
Some of us did, we who had parents who didn’t lie about it.
 We tried to speak. But were buried.
Or mocked  
Or rendered silent by allures of mainstream progress.
  I don’t usually write like this...  I mean, I did...
 When I was a child  
But I was told it was angsty 
And cheesy, and juvenile  
So I tried to sound intelligent through nuance  
But  Actually  
You need to tell your kids the truth.
 They have insights we may have forgotten.
 I know you don’t want them to be afraid.
 But they are anyways 
And if you lie to them and hide the truth they will know anyways 
And will be more afraid  
And will question their own intuition  
And they will question their faith in you.  
They have solutions our brains have already discounted but that could still help.
 Listen to them, be honest, admit that you are scared too, and stay close to their/your hearts,  
Denial is how we got here, be different

art and words by me - mixed media collage

I almost lost my voice
Scrolling for options on how to best use it
How to say “The Thing”

I’ve always wanted to get through to you
I have earliest memories of trying
It seemed noisy even back then but I really had no idea what it could become.

It sounds simple
Attention…
pointing it at things

But it’s not
as long as you only see it as an opportunity for getting bigger
It’s just white noise when agendas and blinders and profit are involved
Everything becomes thin and polished then.
Only worth something in scarcity

Too bad really, there’s been some great ideas out there.

Lost isn’t forgotten though…
There’s a thing called Essence
It’s got some nuance, so dogma won’t cut it, no matter whose cloth you’re cutting from.

Meaning it crosses borders and certainties
It doesn’t seek to leave anyone out
You belong to something
Despite your image preferences
Caring is actually sharing
So how do We?
Actually?

I almost lost my voice
Scrolling for options on how to best use it
How to say “The Thing”

I’ve always wanted to get through to you
I have earliest memories of trying
It seemed noisy even back then but I really had no idea what it could become.

It sounds simple
Attention…
pointing it at things

But it’s not
as long as you only see it as an opportunity for getting bigger
It’s just white noise when agendas and blinders and profit are involved
Everything becomes thin and polished then.
Only worth something in scarcity

Too bad really, there’s been some great ideas out there.

Lost isn’t forgotten though…
There’s a thing called Essence
It’s got some nuance, so dogma won’t cut it, no matter whose cloth you’re cutting from.

Meaning it crosses borders and certainties
It doesn’t seek to leave anyone out
You belong to something
Despite your image preferences
Caring is actually sharing
So how do We?
Actually?

“Earth, isn’t this what you want? To arise in us, invisible?
Is it not your dream, to enter us so wholly
there’s nothing left outside us to see?
What, if not transformation,
is your deepest purpose? Earth, my love,
I want it too. Believe me,
no more of your springtimes are needed
to win me over—even one flower
is more than enough. Before I was named
I belonged to you. I seek no other law
than yours, and know I can trust
the death you will bring.

See, I live. On what?
Childhood and future are equally present.
Sheer abundance of being
floods my heart.”

poem by Rilke (translated by the incredible Joanna Macy and Anita Barrow)
art by me “kinflower”

“Earth, isn’t this what you want? To arise in us, invisible?
Is it not your dream, to enter us so wholly
there’s nothing left outside us to see?
What, if not transformation,
is your deepest purpose? Earth, my love,
I want it too. Believe me,
no more of your springtimes are needed
to win me over—even one flower
is more than enough. Before I was named
I belonged to you. I seek no other law
than yours, and know I can trust
the death you will bring.

See, I live. On what?
Childhood and future are equally present.
Sheer abundance of being
floods my heart.”

poem by Rilke (translated by the incredible Joanna Macy and Anita Barrow)
art by me “kinflower”

When the garden smells so good it reminds you of your own sense of humour 😂

When the garden smells so good it reminds you of your own sense of humour 😂

I could really use some encouragement right now. Major creative dry spell and existential angst 🤪

I could really use some encouragement right now. Major creative dry spell and existential angst 🤪

Worn in Realms posters are in
11x8.5. $25 each
DM me ❤️

Worn in Realms posters are in
11x8.5. $25 each
DM me ❤️

Worn in Realms posters
11x8.5 $25 each
DM me ❤️

Worn in Realms posters
11x8.5 $25 each
DM me ❤️

Some of you may remember my post about the Bard Owls nesting in my mums neighborhood in Vancouver. She’s been visiting them every evening for the past 3 months. Yesterday this happened 🥰 curious baby owl swooped down to say hello
Photo by @modern1

Some of you may remember my post about the Bard Owls nesting in my mums neighborhood in Vancouver. She’s been visiting them every evening for the past 3 months. Yesterday this happened 🥰 curious baby owl swooped down to say hello
Photo by @modern1

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