Sonparo: Weaving Dreams Between the Echoes of Barcelona and the Wild Heart of Sardinia
In a world that moves fast, there are those who are rediscovering the beauty of the slow gesture, of creation born from the hands and the heart. This is the story of Sonia Paradell Roig, known in the vibrant social universe as "Sonparo," a weaver and designer who has embarked on a fascinating, almost predestined journey, from the architecture of interior spaces to the architecture of the soul, woven thread by thread. Originally from cosmopolitan Barcelona, her life is a canvas painted with the colors of passion, a path that saw her abandon a promising career to answer a deeper calling, finally finding her haven and muse on the enchanted island of Sardinia.
"My first love was the design of spaces," confides Sonia, whose voice evokes the same delicacy as her creations. With a degree in Visual Arts and Design and a specialization in Interior Design, she dedicated years to shaping environments between Germany and her native Spain. But within her, like a melody whispered by the wind, a different echo grew. "At 28, I felt the irresistible call of pure creativity," she recounts, "an almost physical need to shape matter with my hands, to feel the breath of color and fiber." This was how weaving entered her life, not as a simple hobby, but as "a daydream, a door to a world where the heart and hands could finally dance in unison."
This encounter was a true "enchantment." It was 2018 when Sonia began attending her first workshops, discovering a universe that fascinated her day after day. "I still remember the emotion," she says with a tremor in her voice, "the wonder in discovering how simple threads could transform into narratives, into textures full of meaning." The passion, once ignited, blazed, leading her first to the Escuela Textil Teranyina in Barcelona, to learn the ancient art of high-warp tapestries, and then to an intensive two-year course in Textile Art at the prestigious Escola Massana. "There, among ancient looms and contemporary visions," she explains, "I began to weave not just threads, but my own artistic voice."
The culmination of this educational journey was a thesis project that proved to be a true declaration of love: an in-depth study of Sardinian textile art. "Oh, Sardinia!" Sonia sighs. "Its textile craftsmanship appeared to me as a submerged treasure, rich in symbols and with an austere and powerful beauty." In 2021, the island became her open-air laboratory. Fully immersing herself, she designed and created a collection of rugs, collaborating closely with an artisan workshop in Samugheo, a village guardian of a centuries-old tradition. "Working side-by-side with the local artisans, listening to their stories, seeing the wisdom of their hands... it was like falling completely in love. Not just with Sardinian weaving, but with the entire island, its light, its scents, its people."
From this visceral love, from this indissoluble bond with the Sardinian land, the "Sonparo" project was born. Having moved permanently to the island that had bewitched her, she began sharing her passion through weaving courses. "Sonparo is my dream of weaving a bridge between the echo of Sardinian traditions and the language of modernity," she states with gentle firmness. "It is an intimate space where hands learn an ancient art, but above all, where the value of a creative gesture that is also an act of love towards beauty and history is rediscovered."
Looking to the future, Sonia's eyes shine with a serene and determined light. She dreams of growing Sonparo, transforming it into a beacon for anyone wishing to approach this magical art. But, above all, she yearns to continue her personal artistic research, "to explore, to experiment with threads and colors, to create works that are fragments of my soul."
Sonia doesn't just teach a technique, but transmits a philosophy: that of an art that is listening, patience, and a deep connection with one's roots and the surrounding world. An invitation to rediscover the hidden poetry in simple gestures, and the timeless beauty of a thread that, guided by wise hands and a passionate heart, transforms into narrative, into emotion, into pure art.
