Sunday, 29 June 2014

Paintings By James Christensen

By Darren Hartley


James Christensen paintings are inspired by the world's myths, fables and tales of imagination. They add up to more than beautiful, sometimes curious looking, works of art. They look at the world as a classroom. This stems from the fact that James taught art professionally for over 20 years.

The early whimsical James Christensen paintings were creations of fantasy images meant for the private amusement of James. As a child, James loved to tell stories and uses his imagination in both his playing and drawing activities. James attended Santa Monica City College, UCLA and Brigham Young University, where he earned a Masters degree.

James Christensen paintings were reflections of James' travels. He was a faculty member of Brigham Young University's art department in Provo, Utah, from 1976 and 1997. As a faculty member, he had the opportunity of travelling with his students to Mexico, Europe and Madrid, Spain.

In the fantastic world of James Christensen paintings, False Magic is an inclusion. In this painting, fishes are portrayed as symbols of magic and wisdom. Their floating appearance in the air reminds people that everything is a possibility. Anything or anybody touched or surrounded by the fishes are considered truly blessed.

James Christensen paintings include Waiting for the Tide. In it is featured a man standing on the shore and demanding for the tide to come in. Instead of demanding, he decides to sit back, relax, smell the seaweed and enjoy life as it is. He figures it's nice being just out so he enjoys his time by sipping a cup of tea with shots of fortitude.

Dreams are part and parcel of James Christensen paintings. In Sleeper Lost in Dreams, wings are depicted as representative of a release of creative forces, giving out an ability to understand and transcend beyond the human condition. This particular artwork has the power to both provoke and inspire its viewers.




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