Christine Bass Art and Illustration: LANDSCAPES 34: Octagonal church, Hartwell; Edlesborough church tower

Octagonal church, Hartwell

This painting is in response to John Piper's works in the Bucks County Museum's archives. In particular, the use of black ink to detail the building and the foliage is inspired by Piper. He painted this little church in the grounds of Hartwell House, near Aylesbury, in 1939.

Original acrylic, ink and mixed media painting

Framed size: 58cm square

Original sold but available as signed, limited edition, giclee prints,

full size or reduced size

Mounted, reduced size print: 46.5cm high x 44cm wide

Giclee prints and cards are for sale

Email christinebass.art@gmail.com for more info

Edlesborough church tower

As seen from the graveyard below the church.
Original acrylic and mixed media painting

Framed size: 43cm high x 33cm wide

Original sold but available as signed, limited edition, full size,
giclee prints: 49cm high x 36cm wide

Email christinebass.art@gmail.com for more info

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!

LANDSCAPES 34: Octagonal church, Hartwell; Edlesborough church tower

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MORE ABOUT CHRISTINE AND HER WORK