Painting is a part of who I am, and the natural world is a part of us all.

I work predominantly in watercolour. Watercolour is a magical, frustrating, vexing, wonderful medium. I can think of nothing else which does part of the work for you, as the pigment flows through the water on the paper.

Living in a semi-rural part of Staffordshire, I have only to look out of my window to see what inspires me. 

I use photography for my reference collecting, and work out ideas for paintings in my sketchbook. I love my sketchbook. It's where I can experiment and enjoy making marks, embracing success and failure as a part of the creative process.

I will paint anything which inspires me and have recently taken on a new challenge of painting in miniature. This is a demanding discipline, but one that I am finding most enjoyable.

The vast majority of my work is from my own reference material and I can often be found in the garden collecting twigs, leaves, berries etc. to use in my paintings. I have very recently started to use photographs of birds as a source of reference / information from photographers whose skill with the camera is better than mine! However, with the very rare exception, I compose the final painting from a collection of references which I use for information only. I am not interested in slavishly copying a photograph. The end result has to come from the heart and mind, not the camera.

In the last few years, my work has focused more on the portrayal of birds. I have an abundance of reference material gathered from home and abroad. They are a highly entertaining creatures, and incredibly beautiful - even the small brown ones.

Painting birds means that I can 'capture' them in a metaphorical sense, and bring them into the house, whilst the source of inspiration flies freely outside....just as it should.

I am a member of the following organisations:

Association of Animal Artists, (AAA)
The Wildlife Art Society International, (TWASI)
The Guild Society of Artists - With GSA qualification
An elected member of the Birmingham Watercolour Society
The Hilliard Society

www.christinahopkinsonfineart.com

email c.hopkinsonfineart@hotmail.com

Facebook: CHopkinsonfineart

Instagram: ChristinaHopkinsonFineArt 

Christina Hopkinson AGSA BWS

June 2020