Sonia Stark Gordon Skipper was born on Wednesday, 8 May 1918, second daughter of Matcham «Mervyn» Garnham Skipper and Lena Cooper Skipper, nee Wilshire.

Sonia was a prominent painter, sculptor, builder and writer and became one of the founding members of an artists’ colony at Eltham, Victoria, known as Montsalvat. According to a eulogy provided by her nephew, Sigmund Jorgensen, she was born in a little wooden cottage beside the Swan River in Western Australia, and went on to help construct and sculpt the extraordinary architecture of Montsalvat, published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 7 July 2008. The information set forth in this biography is almost entirely reworded from that eulogy.

Her immediate family were nearly all artistic, her father being a successful author of children’s books, among them the The Meeting Pool, which he dedicated to Sonia. Her mother and her elder sister were painters and her younger brother was a renowned sculptor, particularly in metals.

Her family mingled in the artistic circles of Melbourne. The painter Justus Jorgensen became her very good friend, being well accepted by the remainder of the family, just returned from travelling and working in Europe. The whole Skipper family fell under Jorgensen’s spell. Justus started a painting school and Sonia was enrolled, along with her mother and siblings in the school. The family resided in Eaglement at the time, but in the early 1930’s, the family moved to the heart of Melbourne, residing in Little Latrobe Street. Justus’s studio was nearby in Queen Street.

Montsalvat was established in the mid 1930’s at Eltham as an artists’ colony, an inspiration of Justus, the Skippers supporting and contributing to the establishment of the colony. The project not only allowed Sonia to develop her artistic skills, but also allowed her to indulge and develop her interest in building. Her building interests focussed on masonry including stone carving and the manufacture of bricks. Her works are included in the structure of Montsalvat in many if its crenels and corbels. Her interests also extended to animal husbandry, and at Montsalvat, she was able to establish a small dairy herd.

She bore a daughter, Saskia, to Arthur Munday. Her sister contemporaneously bore a son, Sebastian, to Justus, the cousins being born within hours of each other.

The colony expanded at the end of the second world war. Alistair Knox, started his career as a builder from Montsalvat and took adtantage of Sonia’s experience in mudbrick construction. She was appointed as his first forewoman making headway in a field which even now remains a male-dominated profession.

Sonia left Montsalvat briefly in the 1950’s to work for the Victorian Department of Agriculture, testing herds in farms about the state for diseases. However, she returned and bore a son, Mervyn, to the artist, Joe Hannan, in 1954. Shortly after, she worked with her brother to produce sculptures for the fourteen Stations of the Cross for the new Catholic Church in Ivanhoe.

Sonia suffered from asthma. She found the hot dry conditions of central Australia preferable to the weather of Melbourne and better for her health. She and Joe moved permanently to Renmark in South Australia, where she soon became involved in the local art scene, continuing with her teaching and managing exhibitions.

She was named a “National Living Treasure” by the South Australian Government and her autobiography, “My Story” was published in 2008.

Sonia was survived by her children, Saskia and Mervyn. A memorial service was held in the Great Hall, Montsalvat, in Eltham, on 9 July 2008.