Arnold Sobers was born and raised in New York City. After obtaining a Master’s degree in business administration, he worked for Citibank and later volunteered with the United States Peace Corps, serving at the Central Bank of the Philippines. Returning from Manila at the end of his Peace Corps tour, Sobers joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, D.C., where he met his wife, Sharon Cromer. Sobers, his wife, and their two daughters have lived in Pakistan, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Indonesia, and Ghana, and Nigeria. They moved to Abuja in 2007, where his wife serves as the Director of USAID/Nigeria.
In 1991, Sobers started painting and drawing at the urging of his wife. Since then he has sold and exhibited his works all over the world, in places such as Senegal, Mali, Indonesia, New York City, Belgium, and The Netherlands. His work reflects his love of the diverse people and cultures he has experienced throughout his life. In each piece, Sobers captures the essential uniqueness of the individual as well as his or her emotion. Each work is an act of love of mankind and of God.
According to the artist, the creative process is a cocktail of inspiration, time, effort, and love. It involves a detailed study of both human and photographic subjects. An original drawing can take anywhere from several days to several months of continuous work to complete. Each stroke of the pencil adds life to the image.
