Congratulations to Christine Berlinson-Esser for earning her place as a Winner in the Boynes Monthly Art Award [September Edition]!

Who are you?

Born in France I have hardly spent a third of my life in my native country. After having travelled and lived in places all throughout the world - alone and later with my husband and children - I now call Germany home. 
I have always been attracted to the world of arts and have from a very young age always liked drawing, writing and playing music. I decided to end an extremely busy professional life that had taken a totally different direction in 2018 to dedicate myself entirely to my passion: watercolor.


What inspired you to utilize watercolor as a medium?

Why watercolor? This technique allows me complete freedom in the creative process: Pigments and water interact on the paper generating fortunate and sometimes not so fortunate incidents that give shape to my original ideas. Every composition involves both "serendipity” and control. It is an adventure where every step is a challenge. For me watercolor is like the echo of my life.

How would you describe your ARTwork?

I like working in series starting from a more or less realistic approach then simplifying shapes, composition and color scheme along the process in order to keep only the "essence" of my subject. What I aim at is a kind of "abstract realism" resulting of this analytical process.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your winning work?

The idea came after my daughter Céline had told me she wished a large poster with the picture of an elephant for her home and showed me a couple of examples on an internet platform that she liked very much. I loved the idea of playing with the colors most of all and welcomed the challenge of creating a large painting. I then asked the internet platform in question for permission to use some of their photos for inspiration, which was granted.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating your winning work?

After a couple of sketches to decide on color scheme, format and mood I first had to decide on the size of the painting and whether I would do a polyptych or a one-part work. Then the overall big shape of the elephant´s head was drawn on 3 separate sheets of watercolor paper. The next step was a “wet in wet” random application of paint (which was the fun part). Finally, the details were added.

What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?

"I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me", Matisse said.

Like Matisse I wish to entertain the viewer in an effortless contemplation of a seemingly simple but poetical reality.

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?

The biggest challenge was obviously the size as I am quite short. As I decided on creating a triptych the second difficulty mainly consisted in keeping an overall view of the whole painting. This painting taught me to be disciplined and to stick to one color scheme as well as one original idea three times.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

I think my biggest success since starting my artistic journey besides having received many awards has been when I was asked to teach a workshop for the first time. For me it meant that my skills as a watercolorist were definitely appreciated and recognized.

What projects are you working on currently? Can you discuss them?

Right now, I am working on still life and abstraction.

What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?

I would like to publish a book to present my work. But I guess this will take a couple of years until this is concretized.

As a winner, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

I think submitting your artwork to juried competitions, etc. is an extremely important process to validate both artist and artwork. However, rejection does not mean that your work is not worthy. What appeals to a ceratin judge panel might not appeal to another judge panel. What would fit in an exhibition might not fit in another one…And on the other hand, acceptance means so much. “No risk, no fun!” is my motto.

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists, what is your advice?

Learn from acknowledged artists as well as from your fellow artists. Keep practicing. Learn from your mistakes. Accept mistakes as steps to improvement. And most of all enjoy what you do.

To view more of Christine Berlinson

Instagram

Facebook

Website