Christine Apostolina Beirne

Abstracted Landscapes

My exhibit, Abstracted Landscapes, explores the color and shapes of various landscapes without necessarily denoting a specific landscape. All of my pieces are painted on square cradled board – another way that artists can “signal” that the work isn’t meant to fit into traditional confines of “portrait” or “landscape”
I started working with cold wax medium about a year ago and ever since then, I’ve discovered many things that I could do with my paint that I couldn’t do with paint alone. This has brought about many changes in the way that I apply paint as well as my subject matter. This exhibit is my first full exhibit that shows the exploration of “Abstracted Landscapes” with cold wax.
My route as a painter is a little circular. My first painting was a landscape when I was 12 years old. I must admit — it was very good! There is a saying among artists that it takes 100 paintings to get a good one…this was my one good one for a long time… my paintings were a complete mess after that.
I was fortunate to have a good high school art teacher and I learned a lot from him — we explored various mediums and we drew fellow students playing jazz piano.
I spent my summers canoeing in Canada (we had lived in Quebec for a couple of years when I was young) so I developed a deep love for the outdoors. While I was at camp in Algonquin Park, I learned about Tom Thomson — a Canadian painter who would take his trusty canoe out every summer and paint the Canadian wilderness. I didn’t realize it until later, but his work had a huge influence on me.
I’ve run a non-profit gallery, became an Ojai Studio Artist and generally spend my days creating.