CONCORD — If you ride BART, you may have been the subject of an artist’s creation, but you may not know it. For nearly a decade, a Concord woman has been making “BARToons,” placing people she sees in a pop culture scene.
Joanna Sokua takes BART to work every day. “I work for a bank and I help small business owners with their ventures,” Sokua said.
When she’s not doing grades, she uses her 37-minute BART ride to San Francisco to do what she loves: making art.
“Something strikes me, I say, ‘Oh my God! That’s really interesting,'” she said. “I know exactly what I want to draw at that moment.”
She has transformed her fellow BART riders into Scooby Doo characters, Vincent Van Gogh, Superman and Spiderman. Sokua’s version of Doc Brown was one of many comments on her Instagram page.
“I am the man in the white overalls,” she reads. “I love your work. It’s so much fun. You can take a picture with me at BART anytime. In real life, I’m not really interesting as the character you made me out to be. Keep up the good work.”
While Sokua’s 9-to-5 banking job pays the bills, drawing is something she has loved to do since childhood.
“It’s my creative outlet,” she says. “My break from that daily routine, you know?”
She never knows when an idea will pop into her head. Sokua just watches the people and lets the ideas come to her.
“I think the great thing about following BART is that you see people from all walks of life,” she said. “It is awesome.”
Sokua hopes to continue doing this for years to come, so don’t be surprised if she sees her taking pictures of you on BART.
“I don’t mean to offend anyone, it’s just more for fun,” she said. “If I can just make someone laugh or smile for a minute or two, you know, then I’ll keep doing it.”
