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Sonja Picard creates uplifting art.

Photo courtesy Sonja Picard

Vancouver based artist brings positive affirmations

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 2:21 PST, Fri December 20, 2024

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Our City Tonight sat down with Canadian award-winning jewellery designer Sonja Picard. Sonja has been a professional full-time artist since 1990. She’s also an international teacher, an artist, a jewellery designer, and her work can be found displayed or for sale in some of the most exquisite international spas and boutique stores. Her clients are visionaries, celebrities, and simply those who seek connection and expression of their heart through their adornment.

OCT: We have been aware of your jewellery since the 1990s and have showcased your jewellery on the show since the very beginning when we started airing. Can you share with our readers how you got started in the jewellery and art business.

SP: I was studying the philosophy of yoga, and wanted to create wearable mantras. The work kind of snowballed from there. I started designing in silver and from there started designing in gold. I created a service called Recycle Your Love and I see it as a magical service. I sit down with clients and their old heirloom pieces and together we talk about how this jewelry came into their lives, or how they became the custodian of these pieces.

We talk about the stories behind each piece and to be honest sometimes those stories are not so good and sometimes they’re very good stories. We are always able to find the symbology that we want to celebrate, and it involves really looking into the past and then into the present and even further into the future. I will find the right words and will give my clients a meditation and from this, they can choose their own words to inscribe inside a rings or other pieces of jewelry. Ultimately, it becomes a very powerful piece of jewellery for that person to wear, and it really celebrates their life on all facets.

OCT: We have personally participated in your Recycle Your Love program, by having jewelry and even an engagement ring designed by you and there is such positivity associated with wearing these pieces along with the many compliments...Sonja, you always have an evolving business with some projects that you’re constantly re-creating to keep your designing business fresh. We understand that you still keep the old services available for your loyal clients and for new clients since these services remain popular. However, I understand that you have a new project that you are passionate about. Please tell us a little bit about that.

SP: I certainly do. As you know, artists are moved by all kinds of emotions. This new project is called Affirmation Love Notes. It started due to all the wars over the last recent years, and it became apparent that the social media landscape was becoming really negative. I became very depressed myself and was really seeing and experiencing that the way we communicate with each other was creating a lot of divisiveness.

People were agitated towards one another, so I really wanted to find a way to bring back positive words and for people to share positivity towards each other again. I do realize I’m just a little drop in the ocean, but basically, I wanted to make pieces of jewelry that people could wear that had a positive affirmation written on the back.

This is an art form to remind ourselves that what we say has an effect. That words really do have the ability to hurt somebody and sometimes that hurt can last a whole lifetime. But then words of encouragement also have the ability to uplift us, and that was truly my passion to share so moving forward, this is a new and satisfying platform for me.

OCT: You have 30 years’ worth of mysticism knowledge, and you express this in the making of your jewellery as well as in your art. Your pieces hold a lot of strength and meaning for the wearer. And speaking of meaning, tell us a little bit about your newest art project.

SP: One of the symbols I have been painting is the eight-arrow heart. When you look at this heart, you can recognize that it is the symbol of love going in all directions. I have created jewellery as well as art in many different forms, and I encourage the clients to determine their own affirmation. This is kind of like placing graffiti in the middle. So maybe it might be something from a marriage proposal or something that they want to remind themselves of every day. Perhaps you want to manifest love, and I’ve even been finding words in songs to place in the jewelry or the paintings. This would be words like Crazy in Love or all the different song titles that are out there and things that we remember that really mark something in our lives. And so, I want to create these memories, images, and associated symbology that remind us to stay focused on a positive and uplifting track.

OCT: How can people find out more about the Sonja Picard Collection or how can they get in touch with you?

SP: Anyone can go to my website which is SonjaPicard.com and there you can find all of my art and jewellery displayed. You can also make an appointment with me here in Vancouver to either meet in person or to speak online.

To watch the video interview in full go to richmondsentinel.ca