I am Sonja Kreisel

a joyful creator, an eternal optimist and in ever expanding pursuit and dance with the divine.

I see my art as a catalyst for people to discover their true purpose and identity, to find freedom, courage, joy and truth within.

Already as a little girl, all I did was drawing horses, animals and portraits of my family. I would sit hours in my room absorbed by drawing, feeling deeply connected to our pets and the horses I was drawing. This was my happy place, just as much as being out in nature, playing in the woods, sitting in the cherry trees, picking fresh fruit and veg from the garden and play make belief games with my brother and friends.

Later in school, I often looked at what others where producing artistically and thought they are so much better and more creative than I was. When I left school I also left art, thinking that I wouldn’t be good enough to make it as an artist and my perspective of an art career would look like being stuck in a museum as a guide after studying art history. So I went abroad and focused on learning languages – my second passion - and just living life and having fun. I spent time in France, learning French and snowboarding, then I went to Brazil, learning Portugease and working with street children. That’s also where I created my first mural, there on the walls of the child care center and I planted my first own garden with the children. After my time there I went back to France and finally got married to a Scottish man and spent the next 10 years in Glasgow in Scotland, my now second home and family by heart. Then divorce happened and as I was in the process of reassessing and rebuilding my life, I discovered my first passion again. When after almost 15 years I touched paint again, this vulcana inside me erupted and I knew I had to pick up art again. The creativity inside of me experienced a rebirthing and it seemed like everything came out at once. The first thing I painted was a horse running through fire. And that was me. Today I am still painting horses running through and with fire. Now I know - I am that horse on fire.

I knew my time in Scotland was over then and I moved back to France, knowing that eventually I was to head back home to my native land Germany.

In France I was part of a creative community in the Ardèche, where I found my new home for the time being and I kept painting and learning. There I also rediscovered my love and deep connection to nature and how I love being outdoors, picking fresh fruit from the trees and shrubs, hiking for hours, swimming in rivers and lakes..  All things I also loved when I was little.

2 ½ years later I had connected with artists in Germany and I moved to Duisburg and became part of the Transforming Arts Team. My art kept evolving. From what started as drawings and cartoons, I went to acrylic paint and inks, I overcame my fear of colour, started playing more and becoming more and more free in my process.

After a while I felt exhausted by acrylics and during a workshop I fell in love with pastels. This felt so rejuvenating and I went through 2 years where I painted tons and tons of very realistic pastel paintings. I learned to observe, to see all the colour varieties, to look and to look again, to discover more and more colour in smaller areas, I learned how to create depths and bring characters to life. This season became one of my most productive periods.

At some point I had to make a decision. I could settle for producing really skillful good looking art, as I have gotten so good with pastels or I would trade excellence for progress. I knew there was more to learn and discover and my curiosity and hunger to explore easily won the discussion. So I started learning and experimenting with oils. I also loved this period. Painting still lives in groups and learning all about the essence and possibilities of oil paint.

When Covid hit and we were no longer able to meet, I decided to sign up for the Milan Art Mastery Program. I felt, with regards to painting I had so many holes and missing skills after being mostly self taught. So I used the lockdown year to immerse myself fully in learning all the skills I still lacked, from building my own easels and canvas‘, to drawing skills, different techniques in oil and mixed media, to discovering my own voice and expression. My style completely changed and I came out a different person. Looking at my art, that was fun, free and wild, I knew this was me. It brought out greater confidence in who I was, plus a greater confidence in me as an artist.

In January 2022 I visited the Milans from my Mastery Program in Georgia in the USA for a spiritual art workshop. Part of the schedule was a soul workshop with horses. For me this was very significant as I have always felt drawn to horses and have always painted them. However I always had a severe allergy to all sorts of animals and especially to horses, so I‘ve kept a fearful distance tot hem all my life. I believed that this would be a life changing moment as I would face my fear of the allergy and get in touch with that part of me that was undoubtedly there. When I stepped into the pen with that giant red horse, just her and me, we had this mystical moment, where it seemed that we melted into one and we started walking around the pen in this deep heart conversation and complete union.

From that moment an inner strength emerged in me that would trigger a series of events in the coming time. I suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was a leader and that I was to start and lead an art movement.

That year I painted almost entirely only horses. Often I can feel them galloping inside of me. I can feel their wild strength, might, power and freedom. The horses I paint are not penned in or kept in stables. These are wild horses, running free without bridle and restraint and I am running with them.

And I knew that my art was to open the doors for others to be set free and run unhindered in the destiny they have for their lives, to step more into who they are and connect with the divine essence within that they are created from.

The next step on my journey is a move to the beautiful countryside of Bavaria where my husband and me are planning to build our own creative center where others can come and experience this freedom, the beauty of and connection to nature and their own creative expression.

Please do not hesitate to contact me - I would love to hear from you: