TRADITION, COLOR, WOOD.
Sonia Demetz lives in Val Gardena. A valley known worldwide for its beauty, a renowned destination for tourism, embraced by endless green woods, alpine meadows and the impressive Dolomites mountains landscape.
Tradition
It is within this landscape that the art of wood sculpting, in turn, passed down from generations.
It is a deeply rooted centuries-old tradition around the year 1600. On one hand, the majestic landscape inspired legendary tales when families met in the Stube, the classic wooden room, the only heated one, and on the other hand the woodcarving was the opportunity to make the tales come true; this by modeling figures and visions.
Then step by step a simple hobby become a real job for lots of families.
“To me it was like a natural gift to follow this inherited tradition and make the painting my own creativity and job”
“As of my very young age I was raised in the world of wood sculpturing and figures painting. I watched my mother painting and saw how the small pieces of wood got modeled to life. Today I am happy to be able to support this tradition and bring this into your homes”
Sonia attended the arts school and upon additional training she took the degree of Art Master in figures painting.
She always combined her art skills with an entrepreneur spirit. Thus since 1998 she started to draw her own wood arts who were sculpted in artisanal shops then painted by herself; finally promoting the latter in her own showroom, at the Christmas markets as well as online.
Find out about all figurines
Color
Color is the final touch, which makes each sculpture unique. Observing the type of wood and its veins, selecting the right colors, each figure will turn into a special one. In my family we all were painting, my mother and my two sisters: we grew up surrounded by art-paint-brushes and varieties of colors!
Since the nineties, along twenty years Sonia has offered what she experienced by herself: she allowed new girls, her stagiests and trainees, to learn the skills of painting art.
Over the last years Sonia decided to commit herself more directly to sales, this within her showroom, as well as exhibiting abroad at Christmas markets and finally running her own online shop.
Wood
For any and all natives in Val Gardena, walking in the woods is a natural approach
Sonia’s husband is a forest ranger and time to time they leave home jointly to walk outdoor in the woods along breathing the deep scent of resin and bark.
“For the sculptures I mainly use maple, ash tree, linden and Swiss pine, specifically for home tools and decoration the Swiss pine is an excellent wood, not only for its unique scent, but overall for its healing benefits”.
In Sonia’s store you can find nativity scenes, religious figures, selections of art-sculptures in maple, ash tree, linden and swiss pine, as well as useful home tools and art pieces.
FOOTNOTE with regard to the descriptions „handcrafted and hand painted” set forth on this site. All original wood carved sculptures are artful designed under the direction of Sonia Demetz. Further, these art works get milled at a rough stage with the help of a pantograph by using prime wood selections only. Finally, any and all wooden figure are “refined and finished by hand“, thus “handcrafted”. Any colored or stained wooden sculptures are fully “hand painted“ by Sonia, or either under her direct supervision, in fact Sonia took the “degree of Art Master in figures painting”.
May Sonia help you with any advice?
“I love to tell about the processing from scratch of my art-figures. I like to help to choose colors, shapes, styles as well. If you hold any object at home that reminds a place, a journey, a special time frame of the life and love, it’s like keeping those memories alive; thus, I’ll be happy to support you with my experience”.
SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER
For the first subscription you’ll earn a 10% discount