Artist, sculptor and teacher Christine Buckton Tillman hails from the great Northern Chicago suburb of Livertyville, and currently lives in Baltimore with her husband and two cats. Christine’s work captured my heart as soon as I laid my eyes on it, and I think you will love it too!
Primarily a very flat sculptor who draws more often than she makes sculptures, Christine’s main interests as an artist lie in the ideas surrounding the handmade, celebrations, and man-made interpretations of natural forms. Exhibiting work frequently in the Mid Atlantic and beyond, Christine has been working as an artist in Baltimore since finishing her MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Iowa.
Her drawings, mostly formal, and a way for her to keep engaged in her studio practice when her teaching becomes very busy, are so colorful, intriguing, and always positive. Christine creates such gorgeous results from a limited palette, with an eclectic mix of bright colors, shapes, sizes, forms and lines. She creates a great balance with beautiful harmony in her works, that is so lively and festive yet serene and calm.
I love that Christine celebrates the beauty of life through her art, and indulges in festivities through her sculpture. I had the opportunity to talk to Christine about her intent for her artwork. She explains:
“For the sculpture I’m very interested in the visual language of parties and celebrations. I like to take traditional party materials and transform them, as well as make traditional flimsy disposable party objects (bows, banners, paper chains) and make them out of traditional art materials. The drawings are formal abstractions that borrow their shape and color palette from fashion, celebrations, and nature. I try to make them exuberant.”
Doesn’t Christine’s work make your day a little brighter? It’s all love over here, and if you’d like to own some of her prints like I would, you can even order them from her shop here. I could see her art in a simple ikea frame adorning a white wall in my to be redecorated home. Isn’t her studio wonderful? I’d love to just sit down with Christine for an afternoon in her Baltimore home and watch her create. I imagine her process to be so intriguing, building layer upon layer, thought by thought. The environment she created is so colorful, festive, and so inspiring!
Do you also like to watch an artist at work? Why do you think that is?
(images: christine buckton tillman)
