A Cure for November Grey

Is it already November? It has been so grey here in the great white north.
November is always the greyest month of the year. After a while it can be rather depressing . In my attempt to keep myself from getting seasonal affective disorder I paint. I try to keep the grey away but it seems that the longer that I live in Minnesota the more the color of the landscape seeps into my paintings. Don't get me wrong, I like the changing seasons and the color it brings, but come winter time I really have to think about what hot pink looks like. I am posting a few new paintings that are on display at my studio right now that I completed recently.

Two of my paintings actually have men in them! Oh my!They just keep popping up. Maybe it is my innate need for romance that I am fulfilling. The one with all of the red is called Spell on You. I was trying to think of a title that would fit and was listening to Aqualung at the time when a portion of one of the lyrics caught my ear and seemed to fit. I like the idea of being catered to...or serenaded. It's a hopeful fantasy.
The other couple painting is titled Over the Moon. I wanted to create an image of a loving couple enjoying some time together. My husband and I are finally getting more "alone" time, mainly because our kids are older and we are now able to get out more.
The last picture-the one with the swan and the woman is tentatively titled Life in Slow Motion, after a song by David Gray. My life is really just the opposite as I am always running around with the kids or schlepping my artwork from one venue to the next. But when I have a moment I do like to just sit and chat with my kids and slow life down a bit.

New Work

I have been painting like crazy for a few upcoming shows and I thought that I would post a couple of the paintings that I have going in my studio. The first one is called the Lady and the Peacock...until I come up with something different.

The next is a picture about a boy and his guitar. My son Ryan started taking guitar lessons a month ago and I needed some subject matter. His first lesson consited of learning the letter names for the strings. His teacher told him to remeber it as Everybody Gets Drunk At Eleven. Ryan is 8...suffice to say he did not forget the letter names for the strings on his guitar.

Glass Slipper

I am what you call a shoe hound. I have more than I need, but I can always find reasons to purchase another pair....does anyone else have this problem? This painting started out with two women in it but I ended up editing out the extra figure. I liked the idea that the lady in the composition might be trying on different shoes but having a hard time making a decision. It made me think of a particular friend that I have who has been dating a lot recently...trying to find someone who "fits". The thing that I have always loved about shoes is that they were always the only thing left that would fit after I had my kids. I could never be too fat for them. When I needed a little retail therapy shoes always seemed to hit the spot. There is nothing like a hot little pair of red heels to make you feel good!They are the proverbial glass slippers.

In a New York Minute...

What can I say about New York...there is so much to do and see, this truly is a city that never sleeps. I just returned from a trip to Manhatten, my husband and I stayed for 6 nights. Little did I know how much walking I would be in for. I of course brought cute shoes...not necessarily the best for touring the city on foot. I think it is virtually impossible for any one who lives in that city to be over weight considering the amount of pedestrian excersize one gets in a day. I for one was happy to eat my way through the city knowing that I would be walking for miles after each meal. Calories...what calories!

I think that we crammed in just about everything a tourist could possibly want to see. We toured the statue of Liberty, researched my immigrant ancestors on Ellis Island, saw three Broadway shows and managed to get tickets to the David Letterman Show! Did I mention that this whole trip was part of an award my husband earned through his company?

The cherry on top of the cake that was New York was a dinner at the Stock Exchange. We had appetizers on the trading floor along with some awesome mixed drinks( I had a martini that matched my orange dress). Dinner followed in an upstairs board room. The table was set for fifty and looked like something out of a magazine. The most amazing part, aside from the unbelievable food, were the Broadway singers who sang for us during dinner...(is this what it is like to be rich)?

It was an amazing trip, exhausting, but amazing.

Hot Mama Profile

Life in Wonderland

pastel on paper

Last month the owner of the Hot Mama stores asked me to do an interview and photo shoot with my kids at my studio to be included in a portion of their web site titled Hot Moms that do Cool Things. My kids, particularly my eldest daughter, were excited to be a part of this. My work is displayed in 4 stores...in the dressing rooms as a part of the decor. I like to think of it as having a captive audience!



I have also been traveling like a crazy person this summer for shows and have not had a ton of time to post new work. So check out these two new pastels...I actually created a piece which includes a male figure.

Made For You

pastel on paper

The Story

We all have a story to tell...my story is a bit fantasy and a bit reality. This particular image is about a mother telling a story to her child. I set the story in a place that could be a small Italian village. The figures are surrounded by good food and a cafe latte of course! It feels like sunset on a patio which is a good time to relax and reflect on the day.

All Her Ducks in a Row

The busy season has arrived and I am hurrying to complete projects before time runs out. I am getting all of my ducks in a row...so I though I would post a picture titled just that!

An Update from Studio Land

I haven't posted any new work in a while but I have been working on a new set of drawings. These latest have a figure, but the figure is not the main element. If I had to psycho- analyze these pictures I would have to say that the figure is being overwhelmed by her life. She seems to have no space in the picture...I can definitely relate. My work generally is a reflection of my life and state of mind. But don't get me wrong..I am not unhappy, I am just too over booked at times to sit back relax and enjoy.

Swan Song

I just completed this piece frame and all. Yeah me! I feel like this has been a tough year for new work. Usually I am much more prolific. But, I have to say that I have been happy with my new work. I am trying to walk the line between abstract art and representational art. I love narratives that involve the figure, but I also love just playing with color and texture. This piece is definitely more toward the narrative. For me the girl in this painting is waiting to see what will come next in her life, as there are always some curves thrown in her direction.

My life is, as always, busy. I was thinking of starting a series called the soccer mom monologues or the mini van diaries...to celebrate my suburban roots and to pay homage to my evening job moonlighting as an underpaid chauffeur. I was reading about an artist who is making suburbia look hip through his edgy artwork. I was wondering if I could do the same for stretch marks(ew!). I don't know that suburbia will ever be hip but it is a necessary evil when raising kids so I guess I'm stuck here too.

An offbeat family portrait

I have never been one to have my family sit for a picture. I don't really think that it captures what we are about. I decided to draw a picture that is more symbolic of who we are rather than a depiction of what we look like. I also added in our menagerie of pets to round off the composition.

I am of course in the center, because I am the queen- if only in my mind. My husband is standing behind me and is my support- he is really the king but I choose not to let him know that, I like to think that I have some control! My eldest son ,Nick, is standing near by looking cool- he is rolling into his teen years. My other son, Ryan, can be identified by his extra long eyelashes. Unfortunately god gave them to him and not me. My daughter Maddie is merrily dancing with Ryan and working on being the center of attention . She plans to either be the president of the United States or the winner of American Idol. Emilie, the youngest, is doing one of her silly dances near me and showing off her ever flamboyant personality.

I added my dog Sam standing near Emily-they are a pair. My crazy cat Noelle is floating near the top of the picture ready to pounce when we are unaware. At the bottom of the picture is Speedy the mutant fish that my scientist dad gave me. He has been cloned with an added jellyfish protien and glows in the dark.

I think this picture is more telling than any photograph!

Studio Stuff

It has been rather cold here in the great white north with daily highs not topping 15 degrees. When the weather gets like this I begin to fantasize about being elsewhere. Lately my thoughts have wandered toward cityscapes with high rise buildings. I imagined a lady sitting in her ecclectic apartment on a spring evening gazing out her window toward the buildings in the distance. She has her huge latte and a few donut holes sitting on top of her pile of trashy magazines...there is nothing like a few guilty pleasures.

CONTACT INFO

chankins2@aol.com

My website is being updated and a new body of work will be posted soon. I am also adding a shop page and a page regarding information on commissions. Please check back often or feel free to contact me with any inquiries at the e-mail address posted above.

Thanks,

Christina

Opening Night

I had an opening at the Buffalo Fish Gallery out in Willmar, Minnesota last night. Willmar is about 90 miles outside the Twin Cities and the gallery is the only one in town. I was surprised by the turn out on an extremely frigid night. As they say here, the weather was definitely character building(the temp was -4 and dropping rapidly) but the crowd turned out ready for good wine, good conversation, and might I add, great art! I took some pictures before most of the guests arrived at the show. The gallery is only three years old and the space is beautiful...definitely worth the drive.

Bling Bling Fairies

Lately I have been fielding a lot of questions about the paper mache dolls that I sometimes create- they are currently posted on my website www.chankinspaint.com . All of the dolls on the site have been sold but I still have a few homeless dolls living in my studio- mostly because I took a break from showing them. My mother uses her dolls as a way to display her jewlrey...So I thought that I would take a couple of pictures of the dolls that I have hanging around my studio dressed in necklaces that my sister made( check her stuff out at www.liquidskyarts.com ). I renamed the dolls the Bling Bling Fairies .

I am also updating my site and will soon have an online shopping page where I will be selling prints and cards of my artwork. I can thank my very talented sister for the help...She is an amazing designer!

I am also postng a picture of a pendant made with one of my images. I made it while visiting my sis in Astoria, Oregon. The idea is actually based on her Par Avion pendants that she sells on her site-go check them out they are wonderful and all one of a kind.