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Artist profile of Christine Derrick

Registered: Friday 3rd March '06

Profile address: http://www.alltradeart.co.uk/christine-derrick

Profile:

Christine has painted since the 1970's, and is generally self-taught. "Being self-taught is really more a case of doing loads of reading, loads of painting, making loads of mistakes and trying one's hand at as many themes as possible."  She was offered a start, at evening classes, in either watercolours or oils......and chose the oils. The early years were spent mainly on landscape themes and the occasional still-life.

Christine has tried all the well-known media and today chooses to stick with oils, acrylics and soft pastels. She explores floral shapes, designs and colours using oils or acrylics on canvas, producing work varying from semi-abstract to representational. Landscape work tends to be more non-abstract, and usually worked in oils or pastels. Christine has a scientific career background and closeup studies often feature in her themes.....a preference for getting close to the subject, rather than a further-away, general view.

More recently she has been exploring texture with acrylic and trying out completely different subject-matter, which has called for a second website to be set up as a "test-ground" ("this is more of a personal site at the moment, but it's fun and gives me somewhere to share my experimental pieces").

"I don't paint figures or portraits, or necessarily follow the in-thing. Subject-matter that fits my main website revolves around floral and landscape themes; but I don't want to pigeon-hole myself and just paint what's trendy and popular.....the need to bring some personal creative ideas into existence is starting to press harder and I'm now starting to make more time available for them. Oil remains my favourite medium, despite its longer drying-time; I'm a typical left-brained analytical person and I need its slower working-time in order to think! Acrylic allows the technical variations offered by texture-pastes, gels and metallic colours...there's still a lot to explore".

Christine sells mainly through online outlets; she has supported local art groups for many years but displays traditional subject matter at these events, since abstract and experimental work isn't always appreciated at local level. Her first website was created in 1999, replaced in 2001 by the current site. Christine took Best In Show awards at three local events in 2001, 2003 and 2004, all for pastel work. In 2006, in collaboration with an Internet group of  independent artists, Christine submitted work to the Avram Eisen gallery, Chicago, for an unusual one-off exhibition of ACEOs (art card editions and originals). In 2007 one of her acrylic flower pictures was included in the Search Press book "The Acrylic Flower Painter's A to Z".  Christine has also completed a number of paintings, in oils, acrylic and pastel, for private clients; ranging from small framed gift-items to a large poppy diptych.

Location: Bristol, UK

Website: http://www.christinederrick.com

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