Christine Bass Art and Illustration: TOWN FARM OPEN STUDIO 2009 (1)

Huge thanks to ALL of you who supported TOWN FARM OPEN STUDIO in November 2009. It was a wonderful community event, visited by great numbers of people from nearby villages and towns, as well as neighbours, friends and family.

We were very grateful for the support of many local newsletters and for the extensive coverage in the local press with articles and photos in the Bucks Herald, Hemel Gazette (twice!) and Leighton Buzzard Observer.

In exchange for mulled wine, mince pies and Christmas cake, people were extremely generous in donating to our chosen charity. We raised £400 for Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, a Tring-based charity doing brilliant work providing specialist care for patients (and their families) in their own homes.

THANKS TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED OR WHO HELPED IN ANY WAY TO MAKE THE SHOW SUCH A SUCCESS!

I've posted photos of the show on this and two further posts under TOWN FARM OPEN STUDIO 2009 in the PAST EXHIBITIONS GALLERY. Perhaps those who did not visit last year will be enticed to visit in 2010...

Entrance hall with information about Iain Rennie and one of Christine's large still lifes on the wall.

A very busy private view.

Christine's cards with colourful Scandinavian glass and Pakistani hats in the background.

Kate's corner with one of Christine's large acrylic landscapes.

More photos in two other posts titled TOWN FARM OPEN STUDIO 2009 under PAST EXHIBITIONS GALLERY.

There are also more photos on http://www.townfarmopenstudio.blogspot.com/

MORE ABOUT CHRISTINE AND HER WORK

Christine paints contemporary landscapes, characterised by strong lines and shapes, flattened planes and the use of vibrant colour. She grew up in Trinidad and the bright light and vivid colours of the tropics still exert an influence in her paintings.

She draws inspiration from the countryside where she lives, on the Buckinghamshire border with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire: the gentle beauty of the Chiltern Hills, views from the Ridgeway, the patterns of fields scored by furrows and bounded by hedgerows, the bare trees of winter, the colours of crops and of the seasons.

Other parts of England feature in her paintings too: the South Coast, Devon, Cornwall, Lincolnshire, Shropshire and the Lake District.

Another aspect of her work is her still life paintings which often include flowers for their exuberant colours and organic shapes.

In her mixed media work, Christine begins by drawing the composition onto board or canvas. Next, she uses tissue to loosely block in areas of colour, relishing the unexpected shapes which emerge from torn edges and overlapping layers. The tissue is glued to the board or canvas. The drawn composition is important to her; when it begins to disappear beneath the layers of tissue, she re-draws it. She then paints in acrylics onto the collage base, focusing on the original drawing but also incorporating many of the shapes which originate from the tissue layer. Her aim is a synthesis between the drawing and the more abstract collage, with the painted layer bringing the two together.

Her background is in illustration and design (First Class BA Honours Degree, Manchester, 1982). Most of her illustrations feature in publications for environment and development organisations (such as IUCN in Geneva and IIED in London).

In 1998, she won the Sunday Times/British Airways Competition to design a tailfin for BA as part of its ‘Global Images’ campaign. Her artwork, inspired by British canal art and titled ‘Grand Union’, decorated BA tailfins and buses for several years.

Christine is a member of the Bucks Art Society, the Visual Images Group and Artists Network Bedfordshire.

Please respect the copyright on all images on this blog!

TOWN FARM OPEN STUDIO 2009 (1)

About me

GALLERY

EXHIBITIONS

MY ANNUAL OPEN STUDIO IN NOVEMBER

MY INSTAGRAM

GICLEE PRINTING

LINKS

MORE ABOUT CHRISTINE AND HER WORK