At six years-old, She came upon a painting of a costal scene with coconut trees and light glinting off them.
The depiction revealed the intricate contrast of the sparkling, white light and dark shadow cast on the individual leaves. Mesmerized by this complex, three-dimensional effect in the picture, Christine questioned “How would I paint that?” In her infant mind, she believed that her desire to replicate the sophisticated artistic appearance was the normal thought process of a child…
With a memory as particular as this, testifying to the unique and quirky minds of artists everywhere, Christine heralds the theory that creative arts are innate abilities. “I think you’re born hardwired – it’s a deep passion,” she said in reference to the joy artistry has granted her. “When you have that passion, it gives you life, you’re never bored – it keeps your youth,” she added, speaking of her childlike anticipation in painting. The watercolour artist who was born and raised in Barbados, arrived in the BVI with her husband and three children over twenty years ago, describing that her life here has been a mixture of, “Mom, homemaker, cook, scrub, everything…I’m homemaker/artist.” She initially started sketching and drawing when she was six and continued developing her skill as she matured. She attended art groups and read books that assisted proficiency in her chosen art forms, acrylic and watercolour painting. She described the difference between the two styles, revealing that, “Acrylic you can paint on canvas and it’s permanent. You can wipe this with a cloth and it won’t budge. Watercolour…has to be under plastic because this is not fixed permanently. If you wipe the cloth on this, it would come off – the colours not fully staining will lift.” Christine ran through the techniques in her art discipline that develop with experience and when employed, will dramatically improve the aesthetics of a piece. Shading, dabbing/lifting, splattering, scratching, creating perspective distances and producing a three-dimensional effect are all abilities that take practice. “It’s one of the hardest mediums to master,” said the artist when expressing the challenges of watercolour art. “It took me five years plus to be able to do it properly. You can tell when someone is a newbie in watercolour.” Delving into the art world professionally—relaying that she paints almost every day and is self-taught—her fascination with history and culture also serve as impetus for her paintings; art that reveals a Caribbean world that is very different from the islands we know today—full of daily activity like farming, fishing and walking from place to place—a physically energetic place.
“You have to place a dynamic spirit in your work…I always paint the eyes first - once I get the eyes and the spirit of what I’m trying to accomplish, everything else is easy.” Haunting painting - “This is a historical haunting piece with the ruins of the Coppermine in Virgin Gorda. I wanted her looking directly out of the painting at you. It’s a ghostly painting, you can’t see her eyes but she’s engaging you.” - Christine www.vipropertyyacht.com
July 2013
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