Christine Read is an artist living & working in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, Australia
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Christine Read Art respectfully acknowledges past and present Bundjalung Elders and pay respects to their descendants as the traditional custodians of this Nyangbal land.
Christine has a studio set in a picturesque rural area close to the village of Lennox Head and in easy reach of Byron Bay, Mullumbimby, Ballina and the Tweed Valley.
23 June to 6 JulySolo Exhibition 'The Synergy of Place' at Lennox Arts Collective 2/72 Ballina St, Lennox Head NSW
‘Place’ is of critical importance in my art. I need to see, feel and experience a place fully before I try to capture it on canvas or paper. For many years now I have painted landscapes of places that resonate as meaningful to me. Many of my artworks are painted in the bush in and around my rural property and in the National Parks in the Northern Rivers region. The fact of being in the bush with the breeze, sun, bird calls ( and even being bitten by ants) adds to the experience.Â
I also enjoy painting simple and familiar domestic scenes directly from my home, often with a view through a window and also try to capture places I visit that resonate in quick pen and wash sketches on paper or in my visual diary.
My work is colourful and semi abstract in style. I aim to capture the atmosphere and my emotions experienced in that place, often choosing pinks in amongst the olive greens in my landscapes and yellows in my still life. 
Over the years I have been influenced by artists such as Margaret Olley , Brett Whiteley and Cressida Campbell – you might see that in my interiors and still life work. My approach to landscape is very much influenced by artists like John Olsen, John Wolseley, Luke Sciberras and Nicole Kelly.
Christine says:
Art was at the centre of my life as a child and adolescence and I always had a dream that I could become a full time artist.
The interesting thing is that my life of medicine has really led me on to teaching art and leading art retreats as I use the communication skills I learned at the bedside and the education skills I learned as a medical educator.
I have a sense of leading people on a holistic creative journey that improves their approach to their lives and has therefore extended my role in helping with emotional, physical and mental health in the art studio.’
The home studio (pictured) can be visited by appointment but you can see Christine’s work at the Lennox Arts Collective Gallery 2/72 Ballina St Lennox Head, currently open 10 – 3pm every day.
Prior to full retirement in 2016 Dr Christine Read was for more than twenty years a family doctor in Manly, NSW and later a sexual health physician and Medical Director of Family Planning, NSW.
