_PNG.png){kind=small}
Christine Drake
USA
_p.png)
“We live in a remarkable ecology—the web of plants and animals is a constant source of fascination.”
Christine Drake uses the visual arts to explore the interaction between human beings and the natural world. She has been a curious gardener since 1974 and continues to study the environments around her. After 20 years as a painter/printmaker, Christine received a botanical illustration certificate from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. She has a master’s degree in studio art from New York University.
Narcissus | Watercolor
NA
12 X 12
This painting was the first attempt at a botanical abstract painting, or any abstract painting for that matter. The daffodil flower form seemed to appear as if by magic.
The portfolio of wildflowers Christine submitted to earn a certificate in botanical illustration from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, exemplifies the wildflowers found on the 20-acre property in the Shenandoah Valley, she and her husband call home.
Autumn Landscape | Watercolor
NA
12 X 12
This past Fall felt like a rush of green and red plus orange, yellow and brown. The amount of green in the September landscape was a surprise.
Christine's work has been exhibited at museums and galleries across the US and overseas. The exhibiting collections include the Museum of Modern Art’s Artist File Archive in New York and the Beijing Natural Culture Center in China.
“Nature is a powerful and cerebral art form.”
Christine celebrates nature in her art. She finds the symbiotic relationships between plants and animals to be quite fascinating — this relationship helps each partner survive and grow. The plant is a residence, a source of food, and protection from predators. In return for the generosity of plants, an insect pollinates, a spider’s web strengthens it, and a bird eats insects to protect the plant.
Monarda | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
Monarda (Bee Balm) is one of my favorite flowers. The blooms remind me of the hats court jesters wear.
This is the only painting in the series that is a landscape. The deep ultramarine and alizarin at the top seemed compelling.
Thundercloud | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
Chritine’s subjects — that she decides to combine into one painting are always intuitive. The rationality kicks into her during observation and sketching. She then puts on her science hat once she starts looking for details. New combinations result in new ways of looking at familiar subjects that have been previously harnessed into a historical tradition. It seems, at times, a precarious balance — stepping outside oneself and letting the art develop on its own.
“Whenever I watch spring unfold I can feel the energy within the living plant. That energy waxes and then wanes with winter approaching, which is all hardscape and skeleton in comparison to spring.”
“I combine abstract mark-making with traditional botanical illustration to uncover ‘the order of nature’ (Helen Frankenthaler) because it feels like walking a tightrope between the hidden and the obvious.”
The artist blends traditional botanical art with contemporary art theory to draw attention to the importance of botany in sustaining life on Earth. It brings to light a new perspective that inspires thinking and positive change. Christine arranges organic forms on a surface to create meaning beyond description.
Daylily | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
I saw the daylily form after several layers of color flowed together. The flower pod at the top right in blue sort of jets into the painting. Blue was chosen in order to liven up all that yellow.
Christine begins her painting with veils of color, allowing color interactions to form new hues, lines, or drops. These are images made by color as if of their own accord. The live plant specimen that she places in her studio suggests what tools to pick up to apply the next layer. It might be a sponge, a pen, a roller, or simply just a piece of fabric.
Sunflower | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
A Maximillan Sunflower grows in my garden and the plant often gets away from me due to its large size. That yellow paint wanted to get aways also. The top form is gold paint and then the seeds in dabs of red.
Christine thoroughly dissects the specimen plants by observing its detail under a microscope. She still never makes the details too literal and they are always just a temptation. She pulls individual organic forms into shapes across the page that serve to illustrate modern, simple volumes. She wants every detail to harmonize into an inherent meaning extending far beyond the actual subject.
Acer Nigrum (Black Maple) is the tree that provides all the leaf mulch for my pollinator garden. It's bark and leaf shape are the keys to distinguishing it from the more-common Sugar Maple.
Acer Nigrum | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
“When experiments result in happy accidents, I leave them be. But I erase the not-so-happy ones with water or obliterate them with another layer of paint.”
Firs | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
As Fall turned into Winter I scrambled to find a good botanical subject. We have many types of conifers on our property so I combined the pinecone of the Virginia Pine with the shorter needles of the Eastern Hemlock.
Christine completed a perpetual journal which allowed for a one-year study of blooming plants by season. Her scientific research adds a depth of knowledge to her work. She includes notes with the botanical name, plant family, and understanding of the plant’s use and history. Botanical facts that are in her mind during the painting process recall the magic of the natural world.
The most abstract painting in the series. The color combinations are so versatile I use parts of this as a background image on graphic design projects.
Seed | Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
Some of her current work includes a florilegium of plants found on Christine’s 20-acre property in the Shenandoah Valley. She describes a painted florilegium as ‘portraits of flowers from particular gardens made to delight their owners.’
Carpenter Bee |Watercolor
NA
14 X 10
This painting was inspired by watching a carpenter bee die at my feet. It happened very quickly but with full energy right until the end.
“I use the form as a means to express aesthetic emotion.”
Christine Drake
@
www.
Not a solo artist yet? Subscribe to our solo exhibitions at TERAVARNA and share your art with the world!