Sonia Evelyn Drew Cornwall (née Cowan, 1919 – 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and rancher. She is in the ''

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

Hall of Fame''.

Biography

Cornwall was born in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

in 1919, the daughter of Charles and Vivian Cowan. Cornwall's mother, Vivian, had artistic leanings studying at the

Banff School of Fine Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

and making friends with

A.Y. Jackson Alexander Young Jackson LL. D. (October 3, 1882April 5, 1974) was a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Jackson made a significant contribution to the development of art in Canada, and was instrumental in bringing toget ...

. After the death of her father in 1939, Cornwall, along with her mother and sister, became involved in the operation of the two family ranches, the ''Onward Ranch'' and the ''150 Mile Ranch''. The ''Onward Ranch'' was a destination for a variety of Canadian artists Including A.Y. Jackson,

Joseph Plaskett Joseph Plaskett (12 July 1918 – 21 September 2014) was a Canadian painter. Biography Plaskett was born in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1918. He initially studied history, and taught school for six years but in 1944, became interest ...

Herbert Siebner Herbert Johannes Josef Siebner (April 16, 1925 – August 3, 2003) was born in Stettin, Prussia, and died in Victoria, Canada. Siebner was an Expressionist painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Siebner studied graphic arts under Max E. A. Richter ...

, and

Takao Tanabe Takao Tanabe, (born 16 September 1926) is a Canadian artist who painted abstractly for decades, but over time, his paintings became nature-based. Biography Born Takao Izumi in Seal Cove, today part of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, the son o ...

. In 1945, Vivian and Sonia along with Jackson created the Cariboo Art Society. In 1946, at the age of 27 Cornwall enrolled at the Provincial Institute of Technology in Calgary, but dropped out after three months. She continued painting, learning techniques from books and radio programs. In 1947 she married Hugh Cornwall, a fellow rancher. Together they worked on the family's two ranches. They eventually sold both ranches, retaining 2,500 acres that became the ''Jones Lake Ranch''. Cornwall's painting reflect her surroundings and life. Her subject matter includes

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was the ...

landscapes and ranch life as well as

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

subjects. In 1981 Cornwall co-founded the Station House Gallery which is located in the renovated BCR Station House in Williams Lake, B.C. Cornwall died in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwall, Sonia 1919 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian women artists Canadian women painters People from Kamloops Artists from British Columbia 20th-century women painters