Meet Sonja Horling

An artist, a mother, a lifelong maker and doer.
Curious by nature, Sonja works across many mediums. Recently, after a major life shift, she has returned to a much-loved style of art, continuing to find passion and meaning through her creative practice.

Sonja is the owner of SoHo Studio, a home goods business located in a quaint shop in the historic downtown area of Coopersville, Michigan. Filled with antiques, home décor, handmade and repurposed finds—each styled with intention—SoHo Studio is a reflection of her creative eye. In addition to the shop, Sonja hosts a booth at various events and runs the Berlin Flea + Farm Market, creating spaces that celebrate creativity and community.

Naturally, my aunt has been a huge influence on my own creative journey.
Working on school projects together. Admiring her personal collection of art. Watching her grow as a businesswoman.

Seeing her natural talent for creating—and her commitment to keeping it a meaningful part of her life—has always pushed me to do the same for myself. Especially now, as she steps into a new chapter, putting herself first and returning to an art form she has always loved: painting.

Creative Conversations is a monthly Q&A series where I sit down with creatives from all walks of life—some familiar, some newly discovered—to talk about creativity as it really exists. The pauses. The pivots. The returning. And the courage it takes to keep creating in the middle of everyday life.

✦Creative Roots

How did you first get started creating?

I was always a curious kid and tinkering with things. I learned early on from my grandpa in the Netherlands that you don’t throw things away if we can give an item another purpose. It really wasn’t until high school when I realized my potential in art.

How would you describe your art or creative work?

My creative work is totally unpredictable. One day I feel like drawing and the next I’m painting furniture or breaking out the sewing machine.

What types of projects do you most enjoy working on?

I absolutely LOVE drawing. Transforming a blank page into a piece of art with deliberate lines and free form.

Do you have a favorite medium or style you love?

Pencil. A simple pencil and a sketchbook. Waterscapes, boats, landscapes. Replicating sketches of the Dutch Masters of days gone by. Simpler times.

✦Returning to What We Love

Is there a creative practice you’ve always loved and might return to?

Oil painting. Finding a quiet space with paint, canvas and my imagination.

What inspired you to start sharing or selling your work?

It started out of necessity, there’s real meaning to starving artist! Luckily in due time I realized that I didn’t have to produce work that I felt or thought others would like. It’s my art, my expression and there will be those that don’t like it, but there will also be those that love it.

✦Time, Doubt, and the Creative Life

What has been the hardest part of your creative journey?

Time. Being a wife and mother one gets pulled in so many directions that it puts a real strain on our creative hearts. We want what’s best for our families and we give and give until creativity is left alone in a corner until another day.

What does your creative process look like?

Haha, it’s a preoccupied look on my face… I’m not sure how it is for others, but my creative brain will not stop tossing ideas around until I finally create something, anything to tame the craving of expression.

How do you work through self-doubt or creative blocks?

I would start paging through books of the Masters. Perhaps even go out and get some fresh air and flip through art references at the library. I’m also an art hoarder on Pinterest and that never disappoints!

✦A Moment That Stayed With Her

Do you have a favorite piece you’ve made or one that tells a special story?

In 10th grade I had an independent study art class the year we lived in Virginia. This class was just before lunch and I could keep working through if I wanted. I remember drawing art by MC Escher and one day I wanted to try paint ..so I brought in an album cover from Molly Hatchet and proceeded to freehand “Death Dealer” by Molly Hatchet. At the end of the year I had received the “Most Talented Art Student of the Year” award. I have to say I didn’t walk away from that experience the way I should’ve. I grew up thinking I was average and that anyone could do what I was doing. Not true. Everyone of us has a hidden talent and the sooner you see that the sooner you need to let your light shine.

✦What’s Next

What are you excited about right now?

I’m excited with the feeling this is my Pivot year. I’m going to make time to make more art as I’ve been on a hiatus since my stroke last year!

What’s coming next?

More art! More painting, less rigidity and a freedom of expression.

If you could spend a whole day making anything, what would it be?

I would paint a canvas the size of a wall!

✦Advice for Someone Afraid to Start

Just START. There’s a saying out there in the world that bad art is better than no art and it’s so true, so go out and do it!

✦Where to find Sonja and her work:

• SoHoStudio: https://www.facebook.com/sohoandcompany/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sohostudio64/
• Berlin Flea + Farm Market: https://www.facebook.com/berlinfleafarm/

Closing Reflection

I’m excited to see what unfolds for her as she opens her heart and continues to allow herself to do what she loves the most. There’s something incredibly powerful about choosing creativity again—not because it’s practical or perfect, but because it feels true.

Stories like hers remind me that creativity doesn’t disappear; it waits. It tucks itself quietly into the corners of our lives while we tend to responsibilities, seasons of survival, and the belief that we’ll “come back to it someday.” And then one day, we do.

Sometimes all creativity needs is permission—to be messy, imperfect, and deeply ours again. To exist without an audience, without pressure, without the need to justify itself. And when we give ourselves that permission, we don’t just make art—we reconnect with parts of ourselves we thought were lost.

Her journey is a reminder that it’s never too late to begin again, and that the act of creating can be both a homecoming and a quiet act of bravery.