(Detail) Orange Walls: pastel on paper 59x42cm.
© Christine Watson PS ASWA 2024. All rights reserved.
Gallery times: Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00,
Saturdays & Sundays 10:00-16:00
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 11 October 2024 18:00-20:30
Christine Watson’s paintings, pastels and prints explore the essential qualities of cities, towns and villages around the Mediterranean, places where bright daylight intensifies the richness of colours and the darkness of shadows.
Fez Scaffolding VII, pastel on paper 59x42cm © Christine Watson PS ASWA 2021. All rights reserved.
Christine’s work examines the passageways and stairways of towns and villages in Greece and the traditional settlements of Morocco. Walls and roofs, windows and doors, streets and alleyways – the fabric of habitation – are revealed as they are, aged by wear and weather. Her aim is to depict the relationship between spaces and surfaces without sentiment or nostalgia.
Walking down from Ano Syros, pastel on paper 59x42cm © Christine Watson PS ASWA 2024. All rights reserved.
“I employ different media to reflect on the abstract qualities of these places, their light and shade, their textures and colours. Each piece of work represents part of my journey through a town or village, inspired by restless curiosity to seek out what is around the corner or up the stairs – maybe the perfect image for a painting, pastel or print or even a pot of gold!”, she says.
Pastels and paintings highlight the colours characteristic of each location, using palettes that have endured through the centuries. Pink and brown madder are the dominant colours of Marrakesh, reflecting the surrounding mountains; yellow ochre and raw sienna are the principal hues of Fez, while Chefchaouen is celebrated for its vibrant blues. And although Greek settlements are associated with blue-painted timber work and whitewashed walls, closer scrutiny reveals much more richness. In Christine’s mezzotints, by contrast, tone takes over from colour and serves to explore light and shade, textures and surfaces.
Christine Watson studied fine art at Winchester, The Slade and the British School at Rome, since when she has exhibited widely. She is an elected member of the Pastel Society and an associate member of both the Society of Women Artists and the Society of Graphic Fine Art.
Blue Alley, Fez : pastel on paper 59x42cm © Christine Watson PS ASWA 2023. All rights reserved.
Website: www.christinewatson.co.uk
Instagram: @csw1258artist
The Exhibition co-ordinator: Alison DeCleyn