About the artist
As an artist I seek to find beauty in unassuming objects and places which are transformed by a magical ray of light, a particular arrangement of shapes or the combination of colours and to capture the impressions of them as artworks.
Growing up in a small Australian country town my sisters and I created our own entertainment and it became natural for us to paint and draw. Our mother encouraged us and taught us to find beauty in classical music, ballet, architecture, the landscape, gardens and artwork.
After moving to the city I explored various artistic fields including fashion and interior design before settling on a career in the latter. For many years the urge to paint languished while daily life took over. Then I stumbled upon the medium of soft pastels. The pastel sticks can be picked up and put down instantly with very little clean up and preparation - ideal for the busy person and ... so began the journey.
Painting is my passion and I find the creation of an artwork is a challenging and fascinating process as it passes through the sketchy stage, the block-in stage, the dreaded ugly stage and into the colourful refinement and finishing stages. The end result is always a surprise and often rewarding.
Christine May
About the paintings
All Christine May’s paintings are created on sanded paper using soft pastel sticks. These solid sticks consist of almost pure colour pigment with very little binder. As such, it creates a wonderfully unique luminosity to the painting - the tiny crystals of pigment catch the light like no other medium. The colour of soft pastels will not deteriorate over time as do some other mediums.
Each painting is sent to the collector unframed which means the cost of the painting is more affordable and the choice of frame is determined by the collector so that it suits the environment in which the painting will be displayed.
Please note that I currently do not undertake commissions.
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