PAINTBOX PROJECT

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Sonja Brussen immerses herself in nature almost daily, capturing the beauty of landscapes with bold, vibrant strokes of oil paint. She often gravitates toward environments where water takes center stage streams, lakes, ponds, and seas painting these dynamic scenes en plein air on canvas and panel in various formats.

She presented a remarkable series: Paintbox Project 2.0. This collection invites viewers on a journey through the seasons and across the Netherlands. Over the past year and a half, she visited numerous locations to create these works, which are now showcased on Texel. The Paintbox Project has been evolving for years, with its first series debuting in 2020 at Gallery Posthuys.

Brussen creates her panels using a pochade a compact, portable painter’s box she always carries on her travels. Despite their small size, these 16 x 20 cm panels are anything but simple; painting on this scale requires intense focus and precision. Her goal is to convey the same monumental sense of space found in her larger works. While her methods remain consistent, the smaller format demands greater concentration. Even in these intimate dimensions, her distinctive brushwork and vibrant use of color are instantly recognizable, true to her artistic signature.