Biography

Leona Sonnenberg is a contemporary Czech artist drawn to quiet portraits and intimate still lifes. Her work is deeply influenced by Jiří Trnka´s work, by her background in ceramics and her fascination with light, texture and subtle emotions.

She is largely self-taught, learning through years of observation, practice and exploration — guided by a handful of meaningful encounters with teachers along the way.

She has been making art for over three decades, exploring both clay and paint as ways to capture presence and beauty. After years of working in ceramics she gradually turned toward drawing and painting — finding in them a new way to express what she had long been searching for.

In 2015 she created commissioned painting for the opening of the spa season, 600 years of Rosenberger family in Třeboň, displayed on the Town Hall facade. The original is in the Spa Treboň collection.

In 2013 she attended the summer illustration school in Sarmede, Italy, studying with Anna Castagnoli, an experience that became a turning point in her artistic journey. That same year her illustration of an Irish fairy tale about Morag was selected for the Immagini della Fantasia exhibition (32th edition) and traveled internationally for a year.

She also studied ceramics with Ludmila Vašková in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, evening classes at OCAD University in Toronto with Susan Low Beer and ceramic glazes with Ron Roy.

Leona’s paintings and illustrations are held in private collections in the Czech Republic and abroad.

EDUCATION & STUDIES

2013 – Summer School of Illustration, Sarmede, Italy (with Anna Castagnoli)
2008 – Oilpainting with Ondřej Rada, Praha (CZ)
Early 2000s – Evening classes, OCAD University, Toronto (with Susan Low Beer)
Early 2000s – Glaze studies with Ron Roy, Canada
1999 – Plain Air, NG Praha, with Monika Sybolová (CZ)
1997 – Ceramics with Ludmila Vašková, Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (CZ)