0027 - Cheri Christensen: Trust Yourself and Step Out There (Part 1 of 2)

Cheri Christensen was born in Enumclaw Washington, a small rural town of horse, dairy and cattle ranches at the foot of Mt. Rainier. Cheri's grandfather was a cattle rancher there and he was a big influence on her choice of subject matter today.   Cheri studied oil painting and drawing intensely for three years with Ron Lukas, a protege of Sergei Bongart, who taught in the tradition of the Russian Impressionists. Cheri concentrates on seeing and conveying the effects of color and light on form. The first painting she submitted to a competition was included in a prestigious exhibition at the Charles Emma Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington, and the first painting to include farm animals received the Beatrice Jackson Memorial award for Best Traditional Landscape in the Allied Artists of America 1995 show.  Currently, Cheri is represented at several galleries, McLarry Fine Art in Santa Fe N.M., InSight Gallery in Fredericksburg Texas, Eisenhauer Gallery on Martha's Vineyard, and Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island, WA. Cheri has been featured in several magazines such as American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, and Southwest Art Magazine. She currently has 5 videos available through Liliedahl Video Productions, "Straight Ahead," "Highlight," "Keeping an Eye Out," " Bushwork & Backlight" and her new video "The Color of White" where she demonstrates both her brush and palette knife techniques. She is also featured in the books, "Art Journey, New Mexico," and "Finding your Visual Voice. A Painter's Guide to Developing an Artistic Style." She currently resides in Texas.  " I am inspired by the simple everyday interaction of the animals in their environment: the way the light dances across the form, the harmony of color relationships and the shapes of light and shadow. I prefer early-morning light or late afternoon settings, with extreme back-lighting. My focus is on the farm animals, their character and the use of color, light and texture to convey a mood. "   —Cheri Christensen  You can see some of Cheri’s work and get his contact information in the show notes at passionatepainterpodcast.com