Why My Paintings Begin with Longing

Stillness Beneath the Noise. Oil on Canvas. Ilona Sonda

When people ask what my paintings are about, they often mention the flowers, the women, the angels, or the abstract forms. Those are certainly part of my visual language, but they are not where the painting begins.

Every painting begins with longing.

A longing that, I believe, lives within every person.

It is the quiet feeling that there must be more than our daily routines, our achievements, or even our struggles. It is the desire for beauty that lasts, for peace that is deeper than circumstances, for hope that cannot be explained away. Whether we realize it or not, we are all searching for something that reaches beyond what we can see.

This is the place from which I paint.

I am not interested in creating images that simply decorate a wall. I want my paintings to become places where people can pause. Places where the noise of everyday life becomes quieter, even for a moment, and where something deeper can be felt.

That is why my work is becoming increasingly abstract. Abstraction leaves room for mystery. It invites rather than explains. It allows each viewer to bring their own story, questions, and experiences into the encounter with the painting.

The recurring symbols in my work - flowers, gardens, vessels, wings, light, and the human figure - are not illustrations. They are metaphors. They point beyond themselves toward ideas of restoration, identity, peace, and hope.

For me, beauty is never simply decorative. Beauty has the power to awaken something within us. It reminds us that there is a deeper reality than the one we usually notice. It invites us to lift our eyes beyond ourselves.

As an artist, this is my deepest hope.

That someone stands before one of my paintings and leaves with more than an appreciation for color or composition.

That they leave with a quiet awareness that there is more than the visible world.

That they leave with a renewed longing for beauty, truth, and the One who is their source.

Because I believe every genuine longing ultimately points us home.