How do thought and intuition work together in art

Sonia I. Roseval speaks about her art with the calm assurance of someone who has spent years listening closely to her thoughts, her materials, and the quiet movement of creation itself. In this interview, she lets us into that world, where Japanese ink becomes a language for exploring consciousness and connection. Her drawings, built from patient lines and rhythmic forms, come to life through a process that blends meditation and intuition. For her, creativity isn’t about silence so much as awareness—she describes her thoughts arriving like waves, each one finding its way to the paper.

Born in Tunis and raised in Montreal, Roseval’s story is marked less by geography and more by the influence of her mother, whose sewing, knitting, and crocheting left a lasting imprint on her sense of detail. She remembers those small, quick hands at work, shaping fabric and colour with precision and grace. That memory now finds its echo in her ink drawings, where pattern and repetition become a kind of quiet tribute. Her series “Organised Chaos” captures this balance—turning life’s turbulence into order through deliberate, thoughtful movement.

As her work has travelled to places like Japan, Italy, and Canada, Roseval has found each culture offering something that stays with her. In Japan, she saw how precision and collective awareness can coexist; in Canada, she experienced inclusion and openness; and in Italy, she found affirmation for her sense of form and harmony. Back home in Montreal, her connections to the Lavallesse Artist Association and the L’Aquarium Foundation keep her grounded in a community that values serious practice and dialogue.

Throughout our conversation, Roseval shares how she moves from stillness to creation, how she balances intuition with decision, and how every piece she makes is part of an ongoing meditation on life’s structure and flow. What we come to understand through her words is not just how she works, but how she sees: with patience, attention, and a quiet conviction that beauty can grow from both order and chaos.

Sonia I. Roseval is a featured artist in our book called “The Great Book of Art Makers” You can explore her journey and the stories of other artists by purchasing the book here:

https://shop.artstoheartsproject.com/products/art-and-woman-edition-

Born in Tunis, Tunisia, and raised in Montreal, I am a dynamic artist whose journey spans continents and cultures. My early life was shaped by an intellectually inquisitive father and a creatively skilled mother, nurturing a sense of wonder and curiosity that continues to inform my work. At twelve, I began drawing portraits, marking the start of my artistic path. Entirely self-taught, my techniques have evolved organically, guided by intuition and meditation. My artwork often features intricate sewing patterns inspired by my mother, symbolising deeper states of consciousness. This personal yet universally resonant approach forms the core of my creative exploration.

Influenced by my travels and inspired by masters such as De Kooning and Cy Twombly, I maintain strong ties to the Lasalle Artist Association and L’Aquarium Foundation, which support my unique vision. My art has been exhibited in galleries across North America, including the Marden Art Gallery (Pointe-Claire), the Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Pierre Boucher Museum, and the Museum of Mont-Saint-Hilaire. I have received accolades such as the Honourable Mention at the 2023 AIMPE Japan Awagami Mini Print Japanese Juried Exhibit, the Prize for Harmony for Humanity (2024), the International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci (Milan), and the International Prize Phoenix in the Arts (Venice). My work has been featured in publications such as the Art in America Guide, Art Virtuoso catalogue, and on the cover of Revue Plastir.

Notable collectors include the L’Assemblée Nationale du Québec and the Aquarium Foundation in Montreal. My evolving journey underscores a commitment to touching lives globally through art, which I regard as a vital element of contemporary life. My work represents my core values and makes a compelling case for the indispensable role of art in society.

1.         You grew up between Tunis and Montreal, two places with very different energies and cultures. How did that mix of environments influence how you see and create today?  

My influence was not based on my cultural experience and influence in Tunis and Montreal, as I was 3 years old when my family immigrated to Montreal. However, my mother influenced my attention to detail in my work, as she mastered her own creations in sewing, knitting, and crocheting. I could still see her small hands moving quickly as she captured a stitch or hand-sewed a hem or lining. Her colour palette was unique, featuring both soft and vibrant colours.

My mind and intuition work hand in hand. They guide my hand so that, like being on a path, the paper, ink, and consciousness lead me to the final destination, my finished piece.

Sonia I.Roseval

2.       Meditation plays a big part in your process. What usually happens in your mind or mood when you move from silence into drawing?  

My meditation doesn’t always depend on silence. My mind may be actively finding repose in my state of being. When I say active, I mean conscious, like ocean waves coming onto the shore. My thoughts are like waves that reach my consciousness [the shore] with solence. It’s an inner movement that’s final expression finds its way to my hand and articulates the well-being I feel. My eyes are witnesses and participants, too, like a child who watches the raindrops on a window pane and is in awe to how the drops create a pattern or intermingle.

3.      Your ink drawings feel both precise and free at the same time. How do you decide when to let the work flow on its own and when to guide it more deliberately?    

My mind and intuition work hand in hand, no pun intended. They guide my hand so that, like being on a path, the tools of production, paper and ink, and consciousness guide me along [the Mind] surely [my intuition] to the final destination, my finished piece.

4.    The sewing patterns inspired by your mother seem to carry a lot of meaning for you. What comes to mind when you include those forms in your work now?    

She was a perfect example of the perfect balance of poise and discipline. It is something to express in words that I try to do, but it is even harder to incarnate. She was not influenced by social pressures or the rapid changes in the world that some of us experience today. She was touched by a world war and a revolution in her youth. For her, having seen horrors we can’t even imagine, still haunted her mind; however, her catharsis was beauty, and she found it in her creations. So like her in my own way, through my life’s experience, not rejecting the darker moments, I create beauty with them. I have a series called Organised Chaos that describes my lifestyle.

My meditation doesn’t always depend on silence. My mind may be actively finding repose on my state of being. Like ocean waves coming in to the shore.

Sonia I.Roseval

5.    Showing your art in places like Japan, Italy, and Canada must bring many different reactions. Has anything from those encounters stayed with you or changed how you think about your work?

Yes, that’s a confirmation of my hard work. Japan expresses well how the microcosm and macrocosm work together. The individuals work in detail, and the environment is packaged similarly, allowing people’s social values to create a mosaic of mass consciousness unique to them. Canada brings inclusion, which is quite the opposite to the Japanese way of life. Differences, such as immigration, have also influenced my composure. Italy has and continues to confirm my aesthetic choices.

6.      You’re involved with the Lasalle Artist Association and L’Aquarium Foundation in Montreal. What do these communities mean to you, and how do they support your creative path?

Lassalle is a serious association that has serious artists. They have honoured me for my originality, both with commendation and sales.

Sonia I. Roseval’s work is a quiet study of balance—between movement and stillness, thought and instinct, order and chance. Through Japanese ink, she creates patterns that seem to breathe, tracing the subtle rhythm that connects all things. Her journey shows how creativity can grow from attentive observation and from the patience to let things unfold naturally.

From her mother’s careful sewing to her experiences across different cultures, she has learned that beauty often begins in discipline and ends in discovery. What we take from her story is a sense that art, at its best, is not about control but about awareness—about finding calm in motion and meaning in repetition.

To learn more about Sonia I.Roseval, click the following links to visit her profile.

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