sOnia HENSLER

Coming out of my shell
Mixed media on board in a ridiculously heavy, thick, and incredible old wooden frame. 100xm x 68m plus frame(20cm wide)
This is my slightly offbeat homage to Botticelli’s Venus, but with a twist. She’s not arriving in a dainty shell on a calm sea… she’s dramatically spiraling out of one, mid-existential musing, surrounded by cosmic chaos and electric blue vibes. Think rebirth meets sea creature meets daydream. Her eyes say, “I know something you don’t,” and honestly? She probably does. A little weird, a little wonderful, and definitely not shy.

Black dog II
Mixed media on board in a vintage wooden frame 42cm x 57cm

Una and The Lion
mixed media 139cm x 98cm
This painting became a mirror of my own power - a portrait of what I carry, and what I’m still reaching toward. In the original Una and the Lion, the story is one of innocence, protection, and quiet grace. But when I stepped into the scene with my own colours, shapes, and symbols, the meaning shifted. The woman is no longer simply a gentle guide. She stands upright and luminous, patterned like an inner world made visible, a silhouette filled with intention.

I Have Seen That Face Before
Mixed media on board, set in a vintage wooden frame with some velvet along the sides 30cm x 40cm
This work began with a model whose face I couldn’t forget. Something in her expression gripped me, and I felt an urgent need to paint her. The piece grew out of that fascination and the desire to capture her presence on board.

Leda and the Others
mixed media on board 95cm x 137cm with the original 19th-century gold frame from Paol
This is more than a painting, it’s a myth caught in motion, exploding with sensual chaos and wild femininity. Perfectly at home in a red boudoir where desire drips from the walls, this piece is a riot of heat, movement, and madness. Wrapped in a century-old frame that once held “Londra” by the Italian master Paolo Sala, the energy of the past fuses with the intensity of now. This gilded relic carries whispers of European elegance, now reborn in a scene of swans, goddesses, and erotic transformation. A visual collision of myth, lust, and legacy.

Pink Palladio
Mixed Media on baord £50cm x 67cm

The Fennec Revue
Mixed media on board in a beautiful antique wooden frame 66 cm × 88 cm
A vibrant, theatrical portrait of a fennec fox in full flourish - a burst of motion, colour, and desert mystique. Layers of bold pigment and metallic light collide to create a performer caught mid-dance, radiating charm and wild elegance. A playful yet refined celebration of movement and imagination. This is my favourite animal :)

Self portrait
Mixed media on board
This piece is a part of my own journey. Years ago, I received a shamanic healing from an extraordinary Polish guru - a meeting that left a quiet, lasting mark on me. He’s no longer here, but some part of that experience stayed, grew, and eventually led me here. This painting isn’t about him, it’s about me. My sensitivity, my obsessions, my companions. The owl, the lizard, the black textures, the strange visions stitched together into something that feels like the inside of my own head. I’ve always been obsessed with Van Dyck, Elizabethan times, lace, gothic atmosphere… That love naturally bleeds into everything I touch. Even this ridiculous, heavy, ancient gold frame, full of carved claws lurking in the corners , feels like it belongs. It’s almost too much, but so am I sometimes. This isn’t marketing. This isn’t a pose. This is just me. No bullshit. It’s not for sale. P.S. I am open for portrait commissions.

Josephine's impishness
Mixed Media on baord 150cm x 122cm

Sitting and waiting
Mixed media on board, reclaimed wooden frame 26cm x 33cm plus frame

Graceful Steps, Sneaky Plans
Mixed media on board Vintage wood frame with brass finish 68 × 38 cm
A quiet scene of elegance disrupted by a tiny secret. Footsteps parade; mischief follows. What happens next is left to You, and the mouse.

Countess Clucksworth
Mixed media on board, reclaimed wooden frame 43cm x 70cm
Stoic. Stately. Slightly unhinged. She rules the roost with an iron feather and a gaze that says, “Don’t ruffle me.” Where others wear crowns, she wears poultry, with pride. A portrait of quiet authority, surreal dignity, and unapologetic absurdity. Sister-in-scandal to Madame Eggzalté.

Big Sleeves
Drawing, mixed media (gold leaf) 20cm x 26 cm plusoriginal antique frame

Walk with Me
drawing on paper 21cm x 29cm plus frame

Black Dog I
Painting on panel with beautiful wooden frame 97cm x 65cm

Strike a Pose
painting on panel, beautiful wooden frame 97cm x 65cm

Dolce far niente
Mixed media on board, reclaimed wooden frame 47cm na 55cm

Beatrice
mixed media on baord 32cm x 54cm plus frame

Dancing with the Rooster
Mixed media, etching on paper 32cm x 40cm

When seafood catches feelings and everyone’s silently judging each other underwate
Mixed media on board, reclaimed wooden frame 114 cm x 39 cm - because regular-sized drama simply wasn’t enoug
Left: A woman in a ruff confronts a fish with serious trust issues. Center: A shrimp mid-existential crisis. Right: Another woman, another fish, same unresolved tension. All dramatically staged inside a vintage wooden frame that’s basically a throne - hand-carved, gold-toned, and gloriously over-the-top. It screams sunken Renaissance chapel meets surreal seafood opera.

Drop my Lemon
drawing on paper

In the night forest
mixed media on baord

Madame Eggzalté
Mixed media on board, reclaimed frame 49cm x 42cm
A portrait of poise, power, and poultry. Because sometimes, true nobility is crowned not in jewels, but in feathers. A nod to surrealism, satire, and the quiet chaos of being both regal and ridiculous. Framed in gold, ruled by cluck. Long live the Queen of Coop.

Good Lady Ram
mixed media on baord 26cm x 35xm plus reclaimed frame

The doll can dance
mixed media on baord

Pearl Wisdom
Mixed media on board, reclaimed wooden frame

Gypsy II
mixed media on baord 60cm x 35cm plus wooden gold frame

Untitled

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Once upon a chicken foot
Mixed media on board 59 x 49 cm framed in a ornately carved antique wooden frame, fin
As a child, I was equal parts terrified and enchanted by chicken feet. My mother used to boil them, and I’d stare at their gnarled shapes, imagining they were relics from a witch’s cupboard or the remains of something half-alive, half-cursed. They fascinated me, how something so grotesque could feel oddly sacred. I grew up devouring stories like Hansel and Gretel, where forests whispered secrets, and witches lived in candy-coated traps. The line between horror and magic was always blurred in my mind. I used to think: what if the witch wasn’t evil? What if she was just misunderstood? What if her chicken-legged house wasn’t meant to scare, but to walk away from the world? This painting is a memory of that blurred space, where innocence meets unease. A girl crowned not by gold, but by bone. She is part of the tale, but also its teller.

Monsieur Homard
Mixed media on board 17.5cm x 28cm plus frame

Dancing with the blue dog
Mixed media on paper Mixed media on paper plus frame

Lift me Up
mixed media on board , not framed 117 × 78 cm
“Lift Me Up” the beginning of a new creative journey, part of my Holiday Series, where I explore the emotional afterglow of freedom, travel, and connection with nature. With layered greens, bold gestures, and joyful splashes of colour, this piece captures the energy of renewal and the sensation of being lifted by a moment of peace and wild beauty.

Stealing Beauty III
mixed media on baord 61cm x 63cm NOT FRAMED
Another vibrant piece from my Holiday Series , and yes, it’s all about sardines! This painting captures the joyful chaos of Porto markets, seaside smells and sun!

Stealing Beauty IV
mixed media on baord 86cm x 49cm NOT FRAMED
Part of my HOLIDAYS series, this piece explores the quiet contrast between sophisticated , picture-perfect holiday homes and the working boats that bob just across the harbour, weathered, worn, and full of stories. There’s no luxury in their lines, just rust, patina, and purpose. But somehow, they carry a beauty all their own. This is what I love: the tension, the balance, and the honesty of these everyday scenes.

Stealing beauty ll
Mixed media on board 61cm x 63cm NOT FRAMED
With this one, I’ve gone a bit out of my comfort zone. I’ve tried to move away from the usual and let things get a bit more abstract, not so much about a specific place, but more about a feeling. What started off as a house or a street kind of fell apart into layers of colour and energy. It’s more about what it feels like to stand there, the light, a bit of sea air, the buzz of life going on around you. CASA DO MAR means “house of the sea” - but it’s not really about a house. It’s more about that feeling of longing or a bit of peace that comes and goes. The black lines, the faded windows and railings, they give a nod to buildings, but they’re just as much about barriers or openings, holding together the mess and the quiet bits. Really, it’s me having a go at letting go - stopping worrying about getting everything neat and just seeing where the colours take me. Letting the painting say what words don’t quite manage.

Stealing Beauty I
Mixed media on board 118cm x 44cm
“Stealing Beauty I” 2025 Mixed media on board | 118cm x 44cm | £650 Framed in a simple white frame Part of my HOLIDAYS series, this vibrant piece captures the joy and serenity of a house nestled among lush green hills under a perfect sky. The expressive brushstrokes and rich layers of colour evoke that peaceful feeling of being surrounded by nature, where time slows down and the air feels fresh and alive. And yes, these are the sounds I heard every morning.

Salt and colour
Mixed media on board, not framed 28 × 40.5 cm

Oysters and other obsessions
Mixed media on board 61cmx 63cm NOT FRAMED
A celebration of sun, heat, and holiday cravings. This piece is all about that vibrant, messy joy, when food, colour, and feeling all blend together. Oysters, lemon, loud prints, and louder days.

The route I follow
mixed media on board 75cm x 108cm plus frame