Thank you. THANK you! Great job!!!
Sonya Shannon, you are the QUEEN of videography. The videomontage you did for Mon's birthday was just wonderful, I almost can't find the words to describe how amazing it was! Your video MADE the birthday party on Saturday night. Elicited guffaws and giggles, tears and even some fears, but most of all, it brought out the happy. The look on Mon's face, as well as the laughter from the whole roomful of friends and family, was joyous. Thank you so much for your heart, your genius, your professionalism, your amazing work. You never disappoint.
You can go to bed every night thinking, I. AM. GOOD. Haha!
Aileen Sebastian
Sonya Shannon, my former Instructor of the 1st Computer Graphics class at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn back in 1990, was an inspiration to my career. A key leader in the digital field with commercial and feature film experience already during those times, Sonya has the skills as well as the foresight in the future of education, technology, digital art and other directions that were inconceivable. The most memorable quality I remember was her perception concerning the students. Sometimes she knows more about the students then they know themselves, by which I was taken back in a pleasant surprise. This insightful quality is rare and most helpful to me and Sonya was one of my key instructors & mentors prepared me for the new world of the Digital Age.
Kenneth Au
Pratt Institute
Sonya and I both taught at Pratt Institute when my department (then called "Dept. of Computer Graphics") was first founded. Sonya is a very sensitive and dedicated teacher who was extremely committed to her work.
Michael O'Rourke
Pratt Institute
Sonya helped me define the creative focus of my thesis project at SVA. My background and thesis was in software development and Sonya and I worked together to demonstrate the results in an animated short. She was instrumental in developing the story, selecting the music, and directing the animation. Sonya was inspirational and easy to work with and I was very happy with the final results of our collaboration!
Trevor Thomson
Blue Sky Studios
Sonya’s skill set is remarkable with a long history in technology, which was especially useful in my
situation. I had lots of information on a very old computer which she was able to retrieve, save and
migrate to my new equipment. Most importantly, Sonya took out the ‘Terror’ that came with adapting to the new world of computers and its challenges. I am an artist. Sonya’s sensitivity for my specific needs to learn Adobe Photoshop and InDesign was a real advantage. One of her most outstanding assets is her willingness to adapt how she approaches tutoring each person individually. Sonya worked both with my husband and myself, and her instruction allowed for our two different styles of learning.
Stefka Trusz
Trusz Designs
I can't draw, so I never considered using storyboards as a tool to win proposals on video projects. But after Sonya's presentation on storyboards I saw how powerful they can be. I decided to hire an artist to design some storyboards for a big project I was trying to get. The client lives in Finland and we got the job! I believe that showing the client visuals of what I had in mind absolutely helped me land the job. Thanks for the lesson, Sonya!
Torrie Hansen
Ockham Media
Thanks so much to Sonya Shannon for her awesome labels designs for the Hinterland Wine Company! Sonya hit the nail on the head with her idea of using the moose, and both the Ojibway design and the watercolor illustration are very exciting. They so well represent our concept for our winery and we are sure they will help our product stand out on shelves and increase sales. Thanks again for the hard and I might add timely (given the short deadline we gave her) packaging design!
Lisa McLeod
Designs by Sonya Shannon
The production and layout of the Igarde news is fantastic. The readability, flow and design, make the newsletter, easy to read and simple to use as reference material. Once you start reading, you will ALWAYS finish every issue. Sonya Shannon of Artware produces an excellent product.
Heather Knight
Intelligarde International, Inc.
Sonya’s capabilities present a complete package with the ability to solve so many of our needs: from tutoring to designing and creating my husband’s website to solving quirky computer problems. I highly recommend Sonya and will certainly be working with her again.
Stefka Trusz
Trusz Designs
When I ask people what attracted them to Intelligarde, rather than our competitors, the number one answer is consistently, "Your website". Our target market is under 25 and what's amazing is that they actually read the content thoroughly. That's because Sonya Shannon is a master at creating material that draws people in and jumps off the page. I can always count on her to bring my message alive!
Valerie Kates
Intelligarde International, Inc.
Sonya Shannon was a member of the Board of Directors, and greeter at the Colorado Professional Videographer's Association COPVA, when I was a member. I also attended a wonderful talk she gave on digital animation at COPVA.
As a board member, she made me feel welcome, was very friendly and personable and went out of her way to address concerns I had about membership. She made me feel that my input was important.
She has continued to show interest in my professional projects and offers valuable critique that I am appreciative of. As a speaker, she is very willing to share her years of experience as a cell and digital animator.
Sonya is a kind, caring and talented animator!
Shawn Warren
C'motion
Sonya's volunteer work at the Colorado Professional Videographers Association was extremely valuable to the organization. She worked as a greeter at our monthly meetings and put forward a friendly, caring, and knowledgeable persona. As secretary of the association, she was detail oriented and responsive. Sonya also did a presentation to the group on storyboarding that got excellent reviews. Sonya has moved on, and we miss her!
Larry Chapman
Fort Collins Video, LLC
I started teaching as an adjunct at School of Visual Arts when Sonya was Faculty Advisor. She got me started on my college teaching career, hiring me based on my professional experience. Since then I have taught as an adjunct elsewhere and was eventually hired as a full time professor. Of all the many faculty I have worked with, Sonya stands out for her kindness, collaborative spirit, and true appreciation and respect for artists, art faculty and students.
Bruce Gionet
William Paterson University
Sonya is a great artist, animator and leader. She is responsible for my success in animation and directed my portfolio to Disney Feature Animation. A delight to work with, she is a fantastic creative collaborator and artist! I would not be where I am without her guidance, friendship and inspiration. I cannot recommend her highly enough!
Patricia Hannaway
Aardman Animations, UK
There are few teachers that you remember in your lifetime, but Sonya is one of them. I've had the pleasure of being her student as well as working with her at School of Visual Arts. Since I was changing my career at the same time attending grad school, she was the one person I could talk about the transition to. Her encouragement and understanding helped me complete my degree on time. She gave me the foundation I needed to step outside my comfort zone. I would never have accomplished such things as being a Systems Administrator, Senior Producer or my current position of Assistant Professor. I try to pattern my teaching style on what she taught me. I highly recommend Sonya Shannon.
Sherlyn Freeman
Valdosta State University
Sonya was my teacher and advisor while I was in graduate school at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to have had such a knowledgeable and caring professor. I found Sonya to be most talented in the area of storytelling and helping me as a student hone in on the story I was trying to convey and how to storyboard my vision as clearly as I could possibly reach for as a student. She not only listened to what I wanted to say, she steered me to appropriate reading materials for both my ideas and to enrich my background in animation with books and personal prints from her career as an artist in the industry. Sonya was a completely involved teacher, who cared more about my understanding of ideas and from past animation history and movie makers who tell stories then mere techniques that usually are learned on the job. She knew that was what mattered, an education and ability to convey ideas and take critiques to improve upon your storytelling ability...This, more then a trade skill that most of us can pick up at work, especially considering most companies have proprietary software these days...has served me quite well in the working world of feature films. Thank you Sonya!
Lisa Kalmanson
Blue Sky Studios
I have known Sonya now for a few years and she has always been a joy to talk to and learn from. As a greeter for the Colorado Professional Videographers Association, it was always nice to be welcomed by her smile.
As part of the COPVA, we wanted to do something different that month and Sonya put together a Video Scavenger Hunt event and it was a lot of fun and well organized.
She also did a speech on storyboarding that was very informative and very professional. I learned a lot listening to her. Sonya is a very pleasant person to be around and her smile and charm always makes my day when I see her. Anyone that would hire her to do a project would be getting a Gem.
Rusty Gruppo
Front Range DVD Solutions
Sonya's workshop was an experience that boosted my energy and optimism about pursuing my artistic dreams. Sonya is extremely gifted at drawing out the best in people and helping them come to awareness of their potential. I feel that I have benefited from every stage of the process- from defining my goals and acknowledging the tools I have to realize that dream, to meditating deeply into relaxation and acceptance of where I am now. I would encourage anyone who has an opportunity to work with Sonya to take it! Her insight, wisdom and experience has helped light a path for me when I felt lost in the darkness of uncertainty. I am so grateful for this workshop and for Sonya!
Sarah Kaspar
Sonya did a fantastic job creating storyboards for my company. We used the boards to help sell the client on the project. They were very impressed. The thing that I was most impressed with was how Sonya took an abstract idea that was in my head and in one attempt completely captured it on the story boards. I highly recommend Sonya for her creativity and intuitive nature.
Robin Visser
Creative Touch Video, Inc
Sonya Shannon created a website for my psychotherapy and marriage counselling services.
When I asked Sonya to create these, she spent time with me on the phone and through email to understand what I was hoping to accomplish and what was important to me in terms of the message I wanted to get across. I sent her the content and she created a few designs which were all good so it was hard for me to choose which one I wanted to use. I chose a bit from each of them and she was able to combine the elements and put together a really top-rate website.
I was quite surprised at how my business grew dramatically once I had my website online. Check it out at Valerie Kates Psychotherapy--you can really get a feel for who I am and what I have to offer.
I absolutely recommend Sonya for website design. She has the creativity and the technical know-how but most important of all, she really cares about her work and her clients' success.Valerie Kates
Valerie Kates Psychotherapy