Christine Watten

Artist Statement

Christine Watten
artist statement

Essentially, my focus is on our enviornment and the natural world, and I get a sense of grounding when interpreting natural form. I especially am drawn to the Oak woodlands and the fascinating structures and shapes of these trees. form and shadow are dynamically interpretive to me, and I am inspired by many expressive painters from the past, including Charles Birchfield and Emily Carr, among others.

I began dying and painting on fabric in my early 20's while living in Asia, and was exposed to many artists there creating contemporary images using traditional media. Gestural brush painting has influenced the surface and line of my art I think. Folk art and my appreciation of majolica glaze painting on tiles and pots inspires clay pieces.

In 2015, when the Western Fort Ord area was threatened by the removal of rare and endangered maritime chaparral, I exhibited landscape paintings highlighting the uniqueness of that enviornment, and the need to preserve its native flora and fauna. Also working as a landscape designer, I have begun to incorporate my sketches and drafts from that process into collage art.

Recently I have been drawn to the fleeting images discovered in my surroundings, reminding me of the immediacy of the moment. Noticing designs in the foam in my coffee cup, I have created drawings from them. At times they offer shapes which I can interpret. In these last years of the pandemic and our collective losses, this process holds meaning for me.