About the Artist

Christine changed her career focus in 1997 from the corporate world to a full time commitment to painting. She is a graduate from York University’s Creative Arts program and has studied with Harold Klunder, Peter Kolisnyk, Brian Atyeo, John Leonard, David Hannan, and Steve Rose at the Neilson Park Creative Centre, Bridgewater Artist Retreat and at the Haliburton School of Fine Arts. She has participated in the "Artist in Residence Programme" with the Halton Region Conservation Authority at Crawford Lake, Halton, Ontario.

She was on the Board of Directors for the Neilson Park Creative Centre for several years. Christine is an active volunteer at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Rental and Sales division. She consults with AGO clients to help them select art for their homes or offices. This enables Christine to be regularly involved with the Toronto Art scene, commercial galleries and a diverse group of fellow artists.

Her work can be found in private and corporate collections in Canada, the United States and Australia.

She is currently represented by Tracey Capes Fine Art and A.G.O. Art Rental & Sales in Toronto.

Awards

Publications

The Compass, Sept. 2, 2005, Through the Eyes of an Artist at Crawford Lake

Oakville Beaver, Nov. 4, 2005, Artists combine talents to portray Crawford Lake Conservation Area

I paint abstract landscapes, working from memory to paint special places I have experienced and imagined. I see phenomena in strong masses: precise details vanish, everything trivial disappears, buildings become liberated shapes, sometimes anthropomorphic in nature, and fields, paths and skies are the supporting cast. These shapes are a synthesized version of representational objects, tending towards non-objective images but always true to the emotional reality of the scene.

Manipulating the conflict between having my subjects recognizable and yet idealized allows me to inject the ‘spirit of place’ into my works. By simplifying the landscape into un-cluttered shapes, I let the viewer fill in their particularized detail, their own vision — a vision that accommodates the mental imagery, mood and atmosphere of their personal individual place.

I am particularly interested in the surface of the work and how it relates to colour and shape. I build the works with multiple layers of paint, using a variety of tools and scrapers for both paint application and removal. This method produces an undulating surface texture and spontaneous, alive, innocent, sincere colours peeping through at many levels.

The work begins with a conceptual ‘point of entry’. Then through vigorous physical involvement and an active dialogue with the work at an intuitive level, the picture leaves the world of visual authenticity and moves towards a world of emotional reality. The result is a field of rich, pure, elemental colours and an ambiguity of place.