World champion stand up paddle racer Sonni Hönscheid‘s lifestyle has always centered around the water. Born on the German island of Sylt in the North Sea, Sonni’s father had a professional windsurfing career which moved the family to the Canary Islands and Hawaii. When her dad finally retired from the professional windsurfing competition circuit in 1986, Sonni began surfing and windsurfing along the beaches of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands of Spain.
She won her first women’s surfing event in France and represented the German National team all through Europe, Brazil, Portugal, Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. Sonni is also a registered nurse and holds a certificate as an international tennis trainer. But, when Sonni discovered stand up paddling, she began to travel globally to participate in SUP races. It wasn’t long before she began winning. Over and over again.
Sonni Honscheid’s racing stats are impressive. Her powerful paddling and endurance led the way to becoming 3-time consecutive winner of the Molokai 2 0ahu World Championship, ICF World Champion in China 2019, 2-time consecutive Winner of the Carolina Cup, 2-time Winner of the Olukai / Hawaii and 6-time European SUP Champion. She was also Winner of the Paddle League SUP racing series in 2018.
Finding Balance between Artwork & Athletic Training for this World Champion.
“As a high performance athlete doing SUP races I always want to be the fastest. In art, I find peace and take my time. For me, it’s the perfect balance “.
What many people don’t realize about Sonni - with her multiple world championships and cross discipline water sports training - is that she is also a passionate artist. Inspired by her novel experiences of travel to exotic places for SUP competitions, and detailed from learning about different cultures, Sonni’s artwork represents her impressions of the stunning natural landscape of Hawaii, animation of the rough North Sea of Sylt and the wild ocean of Fuerteventura brought onto canvas.
“Painting, for me, is like writing a diary about all my experiences, discovering exotic places & learning about different cultures around the world. Through my travels, I found my own style of art. It allows me to play with animating the rough north sea of Sylt and the sand desert of Fuerteventura onto canvas. My paintings often tell a story. The viewer on a closer look always discovers new context in the flowing lines. My biggest inspiration is the ocean.”
Sonni says her biggest inspiration is the ocean. Her preferred technique of using special acrylic pens allows her to contribute great detail to her art and to maximize her use of color. She is currently preparing for her fourth exhibition on the island of Sylt. Beyond personal art exhibitions, Sonni also works as a designer for major companies like Jucker Hawaii, Capri Sun and Chiemsee. She is also participating in a dynamic art collaboration with her paddle board sponsor Starboard with the Tikhine Line, a stand up paddle board designed especially for women. She is an ambassador for car manufacturer Mercedes Benz who decorated her first van with her art.
Website with paintings https://www.sonni-honscheid.com/
Reflections on Sonni Honscheid's Travel, Artwork & Designs
"As a professional surfer, I travel a lot around the world to places like Hawaii, Micronesia, Indonesia, Australia, California, Maldives, and Morocco always looking for the perfect wave. The more I travel, I discover that this perfect place does not exist, but that it exists
only within us and that it is a combination of moments and experiences. Sonni manages to bring those moments through her art onto canvas.
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Sonni’s art is a reflection of the colorful places of her travels, the cultures she’s experienced, people she’s met and the waves surfed. All this connectedness of light, color and energy comes through in her work. There are no limits between being under or over water, humans or animals, dark and light. There is no time, no beginning and no end. I understand her colors as an energetic flow - the soul - which only becomes visible to us through the signing of black lines - the embodiment. And so, they melt together in the here and now. It's the MOMENTS from all over the world that stay. It’s the MOMENTS that stay even when we are no longer.”
ARTWORK
“Molokai2Oahu” About the Design
“When I started paddling, I saw a documentary about Andrea Moeller, a big wave surfer and paddler from Maui. She was already crossing the Kaiwi Channel, taking part in the most prestigious and hardest open ocean race in the world: the Molokai2Oahu crossing. I had a dream to cross the Kaiwi Channel! I worked really hard to make it happen (physically, mentally and financially) to be on the start line one day In 2012. I did this prestigious crossing as part of a team of three people. It was a great experience, but I felt like I needed to cross this channel by myself.
The next year, in 2013, I found myself standing on the start line for my first solo crossing. I placed 3rd that year in the event. After the race, I met with my boat crew before they left and they said, “Sonni, next year we are going for 1st place”.
This is what happened the next three years. I won the world’s most challenging and prestigious open water crossing 3 times in a row in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Winning is only a bonus to what this dynamic ocean crossing has to offer. I learned to let go. I had to let go of the shore completely and fully commit to this channel. I found myself reaching my physical and emotional limits and then fighting to overcome those limits. In the Kaiwi Channel, I’ve cried tears of joy, of pain and experienced the largest sensation of freedom I have ever felt in my life.
This channel is a true inspiration for me. Paddling over the deep, blue of the ocean with the endless universe above you and the sea creatures - like flying fish around - is a journey like no other. At the start of this year, I received a message from Matthew Murasko of Maui Life Clothing and Shannon Delaney, the lead organizer for M20, asking if I would be interested in being the featured artist for the Molokai2Oahu 2020 crossing. It was a very special moment for me. I felt really honored to have this opportunity and immediately started to work on it. Due to the situation regarding COVID19, this year’s M2O crossing in Hawaii was canceled; however, it became a massive virtual event instead and gave people from around the world the chance to challenge themselves in their home waters. The Virtual M2O was an enormous success with over 1.800 participants from over 50 different countries paddling 16miles on the open water together, connected by the sea.
The Kaiwi Channel means so much to me. It was fun to interpret some of the key elements of the Hawaiian Islands into the artwork for this year’s Crossing. The woman at the center of the art represents the goddess creator of the Hawaiian Islands. She is wearing a Lei made of the white Kukui blossom and the yellow Pua‘ilima. These are the official flowers of Moloka’i and O’ahu respectively, bonding the two islands with the Ka’iwi channel. The flying fish are very present in the channel when you cross. They fly out in front of you, over your board and continue to inspire paddlers to keep going, while making it look seamless connecting to water and wind. The compass with the heart in my artwork stands for navigating in the right direction, taking the right line. It also represents the sacrifice each paddler has to make, the endless hours of training, the layers of tears, and the pure heart it takes to paddle from the island of Moloka’i to the island of O’ahu.
Paintings / design for the Tikhine Boards: Meanings behind the art
The “Tikihine” is the result of an amazing collaboration with Starboard CEO Svein Rasmussen. I’ve been a Starboard Team Rider for a number of years and this project was really fun since it combined my two biggest passions by presenting my art on the world’s best boards.
The Tiki Tree of Life Painting:
This painting is inspired by the spiritual force where the four elements: Water, Earth, Fire and Air descend from. The Tiki represents the first human on Earth. The heart stands for the love and gratitude this first human has for each of those four elements because without them he would not exist. The meaning behind the artwork is to remind people to be respectful of nature and strive to keep those elements in balance. Nowadays, we get so distracted with so much of life around us, that sometimes people forget the value and importance of these “simple” but life sustaining elements - like taking a deep breath of fresh air!
The Tiki Fish painting:
In this painting , you see the fish swimming away from regulated, monotonous, clean, straight lines and edges they have put themselves in over time.These sea creatures are swimming towards flowing, vivid lines, working on getting out of their "comfort zones” and are ready to take risks. The one fish is looking through the eye of the Tiki. He realizes that if you follow your passion and listen to your heart, you are doing the right thing.His message is: “Don ́t let others stop you. Follow your own path. Be different.”
“Catch and Release”
This artwork represents how you have to learn to let go, to be able to receive again. Catch it, but don’t be too attached to it. Go with the flow, Or as my favorite Frisian Motto says, “Rüm hart – klaar kiming”. Wide heart, clear horizon view.
