It often surprises people to learn that Sonia D’Aloisio failed art in her final year of high school and was initially denied admission to the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. A free spirit from the start, she quickly realized—just two weeks into attending the college—that formal art education wasn’t for her. Instead, she chose to forge her own creative path. In 1991, she founded So Hip It Hurts, Toronto’s oldest skate and snowboard shop, which remains a local landmark to this day.

Alongside running her business, she taught herself graphic design and went on to collaborate with major recording artists, including Our Lady Peace—earning a Juno Award nomination for Best Album Art for their 1997 release Clumsy. Her design work also extended to projects for Ben Harper, Korn, and Avril Lavigne, for whom she created album art and merchandise for The Best Damn Thing tour.

After three decades in business, she sold her shop in 2020 and embraced a quieter life in the country with her husband and son.

Birds have always been a part of her life. From a young age, she watched her father breed, study, and rehabilitate many species, and his passion for feathered creatures left a deep impression on her. That lifelong connection took on new meaning when an injured raven entered her life a few years ago. With the help of a local wildlife sanctuary, the raven was nursed back to health and released on her property. Over time, they formed a close bond through his daily visits, and when he was lost to a bird of prey, she was devastated.

In the months that followed, she turned to painting as a way to process her grief. One night, she went to bed thinking of the raven and decided that the next morning she would start painting him. Though she hadn’t picked up a brush in nearly 30 years and had never worked with oils, what emerged surprised even her. She created a series of seven raven paintings, each helping her work through the emotions of loss and rediscovery.

Today, she continues to paint ravens, crows, and barn owls—each work a meditation on connection, resilience, and the quiet beauty of the natural world that continues to inspire her.

the Caw-Ling

Solo show by Sonia D’Aloisio October 31st - November 23rd

I felt like I was in a hole.  A deep void of longing for something more. Something we all long for : our life’s purpose.  Our calling.

I found mine through a raven.  It was from the loss of this beloved bird that I picked up a paint brush after nearly 30 years and channeled an indescribable energy into a series of seven paintings.  From the moment that my brush stroked the canvas, I felt something deep inside me stir.

Something had awakened.  Friends tell me that I had tapped into something

spiritual and divine.  Ironically, it all started with me wanting to save a raven, but in the end it was he who saved me.

There is such a freeing and profound feeling that I get when I paint these magnificent birds, and I never paint them in a bad light ( pardon the pun ). They are one of God’s most beautiful creatures and they deserve a better representation than the stereotypical harbinger of death or fodder for  occult and esoteric beliefs.  There is so much more to these mysterious and captivating creatures, and I look forward to continuing the journey with them through my paintings.