{{Short description|Canadian painter and rancher}} {{Infobox artist | name = Sonia Cornwall | image = Photo of Sonia Cornwall.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Sonia Evelyn Drew Cowan | birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|11|22}} | birth_place = Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|2006|3|16 |1919|11|22}} | death_place = 150 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada | nationality = | education = Provincial Institute of Technology in Calgary | field = Painter | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = | website = {{URL|www.soniacornwall.com/}} | spouse = {{marriage|Hugh Cornwall|1947|}} }}
'''Sonia Evelyn Drew Cornwall''' (née Cowan, 1919 – 2006) was a Canadian painter and rancher. She is in the ''British Columbia Cowboy Hall of Fame''.<ref name="BCStudies">{{cite journal |last1=Mason |first1=Kerry |title=Sonia: The Life of Bohemian, Rancher and Artist Sonia Cornwall, 1919-2006 by Sheryl Salloum |journal=BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly |date=2017 |issue=195 |url=https://bcstudies.com/?q=book-reviews/sonia-life-bohemian-rancher-and-artist-sonia-cornwall-1919-2006 |access-date=4 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107012633/https://bcstudies.com/?q=book-reviews%2Fsonia-life-bohemian-rancher-and-artist-sonia-cornwall-1919-2006 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Biography== Cornwall was born in Kamloops in 1919, the daughter of Charles and Vivian Cowan.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Salloum|first=Sheryl|date=January 2016|title=Sonia Cornwall: Cariboo Artist|url=https://www.cowboycountrymagazine.com/2016/04/sonia-cornwall-cariboo-artist/|journal=Canadian Cowboy Country Magazine|access-date=2018-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207105950/https://www.cowboycountrymagazine.com/2016/04/sonia-cornwall-cariboo-artist/|archive-date=2018-12-07|url-status=live}}</ref> Cornwall's mother, Vivian, had artistic leanings studying at the Banff School of Fine Arts and making friends with A.Y. Jackson.
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''.<ref name="CanadianCowboy">{{cite web |last1=Salloum |first1=Sheryl |title=Sonia Cornwall: Cariboo Artist |url=http://www.cowboycountrymagazine.com/2016/04/sonia-cornwall-cariboo-artist/ |website=Canadian Cowboy Country Magazine |access-date=4 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011250/http://www.cowboycountrymagazine.com/2016/04/sonia-cornwall-cariboo-artist/ |archive-date=7 November 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The ''Onward Ranch'' was a destination for a variety of Canadian artists Including A.Y. Jackson, Joseph Plaskett, Herbert Siebner, and Takao Tanabe.<ref name="BCStudies"/>
In 1945, Vivian and Sonia along with Jackson created the Cariboo Art Society.<ref name="BCStudies"/>
In 1946, at the age of 27 Cornwall enrolled at the Provincial Institute of Technology in Calgary, but dropped out after three months.<ref name="cwahi">{{cite web|url=http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=242|title=Cornwall, Sonia|website=Canadian Women Artists History Initiative|access-date=4 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107024912/http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=242|archive-date=7 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> She continued painting, learning techniques from books and radio programs.<ref name="CanadianCowboy"/>
In 1947, she married Hugh Cornwall,<ref name="cwahi"/> 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''.<ref name="CanadianCowboy"/>
Cornwall's painting reflect her surroundings and life. Her subject matter includes Cariboo landscapes and ranch life as well as First Nations subjects.<ref name="CanadianCowboy"/><ref name="BCStudies"/>
In 1981, Cornwall co-founded the Station House Gallery <ref name="cwahi"/> which is located in the renovated BCR Station House in Williams Lake, British Columbia.<ref name="StationHouse">{{cite web |title=About the Station House |url=http://www.stationhousegallery.com/ |website=The Station House Gallery |access-date=5 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003113147/http://www.stationhousegallery.com/ |archive-date=3 October 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Cornwall died in 2006.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwall, Sonia}} Category:1919 births Category:2006 deaths Category:20th-century Canadian painters Category:People from Kamloops Category:Artists from British Columbia Category:20th-century Canadian women painters