Christine Bass
Most of my paintings are inspired by the landscapes of the Ridgeway and the Chilterns. For many years, I lived close to Ivinghoe Beacon at the eastern end of the Ridgeway where I drew and painted the chalk downs. I now live in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, where the River Thames divides the Chilterns from the North Wessex Downs. I am now recording these landscapes in my drawings and paintings.
The paintings consist of several layers of acrylic paint on a collaged base. I begin by drawing the composition onto board before collaging the whole surface with tissue paper. I then paint in acrylics onto that collage base, focusing on the original drawing but also incorporating many of the shapes that originate from the tissue layer. My aim is a synthesis between the drawing and the more abstract collage, with the painted layer bringing the two together.
In 2022, my painting ‘Ivinghoe Beacon from Steps Hill’ was judged Overall Winner of the Swire Ridgeway Arts Prize. This annual exhibition is coordinated by The Friends of the Ridgeway, an organisation that seeks to preserve and celebrate the Ridgeway National Trail.
In 2019, my painting ‘Pulpit Wood’ won second prize in ‘The People’s Landscape’ exhibition at Claydon House. The exhibition was organised by The Courtyard Art Studio in conjunction with The National Trust.
I open my studio in Wallingford for Oxfordshire Art Weeks in May and I exhibit at St Dunstan’s Church in Monks Risborough for Bucks Art Weeks in June.
Email: christinebass.art@gmail.com