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 My artwork explores the transcendent meaning and wholeness I find through contemplation of the landscape. In a world which often seems fractured and threatening, I present viewers of my paintings with images that evoke the poetry and interconnectedness of the natural world.I work in media that encourage spontaneity and mimic natural processes. My collages use a wide variety of Asian papers I dye with watercolor, and are influenced by my study of Japanese flower arranging - the Sogetsu school of ikebana, a form of 3-dimensional collage using plant materials. Monotypes, which are transferred from smooth printing plates to paper using an etching press, allow me to create textures which echo the patterns I see in landscape forms, but the results are never completely predictable. The crinkled masa paper technique creates networks of sumi ink lines, representing the connections among the myriad elements of a landscape. All these techniques are my partners in creation, providing me with opportunities to change direction as I respond to spontaneous interactions of the materials. I have eclectic tastes in art and have practiced many art forms, but the most important influence on my work is the painting and calligraphy of Chinese literati, or eccentric, painters. I discovered them in a Chinese art history course in art school in the late 1970's. Other important influences are Théodore Rousseau, Paul Cezanne, Rembrandt, and the German Expressionists, particularly Emil Nolde. SHEILA SONDIK'S CRINKLED PAPER TECHNIQUE In cartoon form interpreted by her daughter, Hannah Sarvasy
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