Christine Beard is a figurative contemporary artist.
A self taught, emerging artist, albeit a young at heart 60 something, Christine makes use of the watercolour medium. Rather than seeking out unique or original subject matters, Christine aims to avail the mundane and the usual in her pieces. Recently her work has been selected by the prestigious VAN GOGH Art Gallery, Madrid to be included in their public exhibition at the art fair in Milan - (un)fair Milano 2023 (from 3 March to 5 March 2023) and to be included in a collective exhibition available for view at their Madrid Gallery.
People are Christine's inspiration. She is drawn to sun soaked outdoor settings. Which is why it is lucky that she now longer lives in her native UK (Manchester to be precise). These days she has the streets, beaches and countryside of Sydney and its surrounds at her disposal. She sees vibrancy and colour in even the most pedestrian of everyday scenes. She finds people going about their everyday life the most fascinating. The different expressions, situations, body shapes, colours and shadows inspire her to paint them notwithstanding that the person may be walking down a street or be in a setting that she has painted many times before. To ring the changes, she may change the background since this is secondary to capturing the movement of the person in that moment in time that existed... albeit fleetingly.
She chases after all the magic, light and colour that watercolour paint is capable of providing. Her work offers vibrant colours and strong contrasting tones that will delight any interior designer, decorator or collector. Whether its an interior, or an urban setting or something featuring the sea and a beach, she tries to feature people basked in light and colour. Her pieces aim to be at least the perfect complement to decorate the home and at best a vehicle that evokes memories of way back when for those compiling their own private art collection.Painting people (men, women, children, families, groups of people) is her passion. Capturing them doing something/nothing/anything in that single moment in time is special, she thinks. It triggers the memory and when viewed later, we remember where we were and how we felt...
COMMISSIONS
To arrange a commission, you should contact Christine via her profile - https://bluethumb.com.au/christine-beard-christine-beard
Typically, Christine charges $450 for original watercolour artwork painted on professional grade 300 gsm watercolour paper sized 31 cm x 41 cm and $1550 for pieces sized 46 cm x 61 cm. This is for unframed artwork delivered to your door anywhere in Australia - with a small fee for shipping and delivery costs. For international shipping, its a little more and you'd be responsible for any international custom/import fees and taxes.
Working from photographs is acceptable and preferable. Before Christine accepts a commission she would need to see the photograph in question to ensure that it's suitable. She would want to know what you are expecting in terms of how photo realistic the artwork should be and which pieces of hers on her website that you like so as to give her an idea of what you are looking for.
Once you are happy with the quote and once she has seen the photograph, to proceed there is a 30% non refundable deposit to be paid before she gets started. This is done via the Bluethumb website for which Christine will sort out the arrangements. She would need to agree a 'completion by' date with you too.
Once the artwork is near completion, she would share photos for your approval. You can submit one round of changes, suggestions or tweaks if needed. When the artwork is complete, you will be notified and then payment of the remainder via Bluethumb should be made.
Following payment, your new masterpiece would be carefully shipped to your chosen address. On its arrival, she would hope that you love your new artwork but if you don't for some reason, you have a 7 day return window. To return the artwork, repackage it in the original packaging, email her for the best return address and cover the cost of the return shipping. Bluethumb will then arrange for the appropriate refund to you.