Inspired by Motherhood: How Christine Lashley Discovered Her Artistic Style

In this spirit of the holiday season, Broadway Gallery is extending gratitude to the artists who contribute their unique talents to the art community each day. Every artist here has something special they bring to the gallery and a story behind their work. We recently spoke with Christine Lashley to talk about her background as an artist, and her journey to discover the unique artistic style we see on display at Broadway Gallery today.

Christine is a contemporary impressionist painter, with a unique take on landscapes. She often uses color and texture to make her paintings look realistic from afar while dissolving into abstraction as the viewer looks closer.  Her artistic journey is unique, too, in its own right. After studying art in Paris at the Parson’s Art Institute and the Sorbonne she went on to going on to earn a Bachelors of Fine Arts at Washington University St. Louis. While Christine grew up surrounded by the arts, the journey in finding her style wasn’t clear until later on in her life.

As a child, Christine was frustrated with her skills. She wanted classic art instruction, but wasn’t able to find classes, so she taught herself her own techniques. As she says, “In hindsight, it wasn’t such a bad thing because it helped me find out what I really wanted to say as an artist.” Christine always enjoyed realism and impressionist art, but despite the excellent art program at Washington University, she says, “the resurgence in realism was only just beginning upon graduation from art school. Fine art galleries at the time were showing ‘express yourself’ abstracts or concept-based installations, which was not my area of interest.”

It wasn’t until Christine had children that she feels as though she truly “became a fine artist.” Christine told us, “I chose to stay at home with them and in between naps and at bedtime I worked on my art. Later on, after some early success in exhibiting and selling my work, I finally understood what type of instruction and inspiration I needed to progress with my art. I chose to study with several master artists and feel so fortunate to have finally found answers to my artistic questions I was unable to articulate so many years ago. Of course, the art journey is ongoing. I’m always learning, but there is much more clarity and focus now.”

Christine’s art is also unique in that her oil paintings are informed by her watercolor sketches and the flow, merging, and luminosity that the watercolor medium achieves. Christine says, “Both mediums support each other and overlap. It’s a misconception that watercolor is unforgiving. The fun bursts of color and quirks show up in my oils. Watercolor gives me ideas about how to surprise the viewer.”

We asked Christine what her thoughts were about giving art as a gift. She said, “In these days of factory-produced everything, a piece of art that has been hand-crafted (over a lifetime!) is something to be cherished. Original art has a richness to it, and I can’t imagine not having art in my home.”

When it comes to choosing the right frame, she says, “it’s an important part of how the art rests on the wall and interacts with the decor. Sometimes minimal is best (such as a thin floater frame), while other times a larger traditional wood frame and maybe a liner is best. Oftentimes, the buyer’s home decor is a good indication of what will fit for a frame.”

What’s in store for Christine’s future artistic endeavors? She told us she’s currently working on two ideas: cityscapes and natural landscapes with water reflections. The goal of her new body of work is to embrace and embellish refracted light and sparkle while reducing superfluous detail. As she said, “I’ve always been attracted to complex scenes and flecks of color. I’m working on a ‘glancing impression’ of layers, multi-colors and abstract patterns that suggest edited and fun realism without exhaustive detail.”

We can’t wait to see what’s ahead for Christine and her new projects. You can check out some of her other pieces currently for sale here!