Sonia Wentser, Master Painter with Feathers

Painters are always looking to create the ultimate masterpiece. Many experiment with oil paint or water-color, but very few use organic materials to imitate paint strokes. Sonia Wentser, however, took a cue from the Chinese and Pre-Columbian civilizations and used feathers, in lieu of paint, to create her background. Born in 1920s in Russia, Sonia grew up during the rough times of WWII, though her and her husband were able to avoid much entanglement by moving to Brussels and eventually emigrating to Canada. While Sonia had always been an artist she didn't create her first feather painting until 1960, entitled "The Fire Bird". From that first painting til now, she has created over 200 works of art, three of of which are kept at the Musée d'Art Contemporain of Montreal.


This technique is much more than just gluing feathers to the background. As canvas the artist uses a thin wooden board covered with fabric. Not only does the artist have to precisely place feathers on the canvas to create the background, they also have to understand the structure of the feather. Because of their tri-dimensional structure, feathers have their own way of reflecting light and of course the various shapes and sizes adds to the complexity of the painting. Without oil paint or water-color, the artists have to create the effect of paintbrush strokes with feathers. Sonia Wentser still resides in Canada and has a book scheduled for release on these feather paintings.

images copyright Sonia Wentser