Christie Cramer was born in Haarlem, in The Netherlands, and immigrated to Auckland in 1969, when she was eight. In the early 90s she moved to The Mount with her own family and now lives in Papamoa.
Although Christie didn’t start painting until 2014, she had felt a strong connection to nature all her life. She was drawn to the play of light on things and was always taking photos. It was only recently that she realised she’s always had an artist’s eye; she just didn’t appreciate she could paint.
The world then became a new and amazing place and inspiration was everywhere. For Christie it was like being Alice in Wonderland and falling through the looking glass into a most amazing world. She realised that this is what she was always meant to be doing, it just took rather a long time to figure it out. focus caught up with Christie to find out more.
Where do you find the inspiration for your artwork?
Living in Papamoa, in the beautiful Bay of Plenty, it’s hard to ignore the inspiration that surrounds me. The beautiful coastline, particularly the dunes and grasses, and walking up Mt Maunganui which is surrounded by native plants and the beautiful colours of the sea, I come home with a head full of ideas.
How would you describe your style and method?
Colourful and experimental. I purposely don’t like to categorise my work as I want to remain free to experiment. I don’t want to limit myself. At the moment I am enjoying a very loose flowing style, using acrylics, almost like water colours. I love allowing the colours to mix and seeing what happens.
What themes do you pursue?
Currently I am most interested in botanical shapes and a lot of my work is based on the simple New Zealand foliage that we see all around us, every day. I strive to represent them in a way that surprises – larger than life in both size and colour. Shells and the seascapes of the Bay are other themes I enjoy.
What research do you do?
Before I start a piece I spend a lot of time finding examples of the plants in nature, photographing, drawing and bringing pieces home where possible. Looking, looking looking! Trying to find the essence of what shapes and shades make up this plant.
Why do you do what you do?
In 2014 I went through some negative ‘life stuff’, as we all do, and had a huge rethink about what I was doing with my life. Rather than let things get me down I was fortunate to discover this hidden talent which I had been completely unaware of. Once I started, there was no question of not continuing. Painting makes me happy, makes me whole and what I really love is that my work seems to make other people feel happy too! I hope my work brings people back to nature from their busy lives in this digital age. I want people to see nature in a fresh and positive way, the way I see it.
How has your art changed over time?
At first, my work was almost completely representational, quite realistic, but as time goes by I find I enjoy, more and more, the freedom of creating images that come from a mixture of chance and what I feel inside. My subjects are still recognisable but are usually represented larger than in life and colour.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given (relating to your art)?
Don’t compare yourself to other artists, but only to your own progress and growth. We are all doing our own thing and it’s great to learn from seeing what others are doing, but not comparing your work to anyone else’s. The whole point of making art for me is to express my view of the world and it’s hard to do that if you are judging your work by other people’s standards. Be yourself.
Give us some highlights of your career.
Being involved in the 2016 Tauranga Garden and Art Festival having my work in the Ring Garden in Ohauiti was a definite highlight. Another highlight was becoming involved with the Macandmor Gallery and having my first solo exhibition at the gallery, Revealing the Positive, in 2017. I was also runner- up in the Tauranga Society of Artists Supreme Award last year with my painting Nikau Dreams.
Most of Christie’s work is sold via Macandmor Gallery: macandmor.nz