Coronado artist Tina Christiansen sprays water from a bottle, twists the nozzle off and forms denser puddles onto a blank canvas paper – the starting point of a new painting.
Inside her home studio in Coronado, a gallery of paintings fill the space, and amid the explosion of color and creativity, Christiansen begins another piece.
To bring the abstract piece to life, Christiansen explains how those bodies of water transform once acrylic paint hits the surface.
To my surprise, she hands me a round paintbrush that will soon initiate that transformation. As a reporter, my sole goal going into the studio was to observe an artist in action, not become one, but working on the painting myself was a task I willingly accepted.
A blue cloud of acrylic paint instantaneously forms in the seconds after the bristles and the water connect.
With taps and flickers, more fresh paint splatters and decorates the surface.
Christiansen, taking back the helm, then adds drops of red paint introducing new hues that surface through the blended acrylics as she scrapes the colors toward the right side, leaving behind a vibrant streak that now illuminates the page.
Switching over to palette knives, Christiansen says she uses almost any material and technique to bring a painting to life but her favorite tool is the fan brush.
“I’ve been an artist all my life,” says Christiansen, whose very first oil painting at 12 years old captured her favorite animal – a horse named Buddy. “Every painting I learn something new.”
Today, Christiansen, 71, makes about four paintings a month – for the past three years focusing on wildlife found across Coronado.
Christiansen was drawn to the nature images while kayaking in San Diego Bay.
On several occasions, she witnessed an Osprey soaring through the wind, then diving in to catch fish.
Christiansen is an American painter whose art pieces switch between realism, abstraction and impressionism using acrylics and watercolor.
“One of my professors was Japanese,” said Christiansen. “A lot of my art has Asian influence in it: simple composition, strong brushwork, sometimes limited palette.”
Christiansen is a retired architect who holds a master’s degree in architecture from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in architecture and environmental design from the University of Florida.
She founded the Coronado Artists Colony in 2010 and operated a gallery in the city featuring local island artists from 2015 to 2018.
Christiansen said right now the focus of her art is doing wildlife, underwater, above water and all over Coronado and beyond.
“I’m about (the) joy of life and art and Coronado,” added Christiansen. “I’m trying to share what I see as an artist around me with others.”
One animal is the green sea turtle that hangs above her desk — a population also found throughout the San Diego Bay — whose eyes have a depth that locks the gaze of its spectator.
“My goal is to be a significant artist from the standpoint of, ‘I do paintings that engage people,’” said Christiansen. “A painting like this turtle, people just stop and look at it and go, ‘Oh!’ I mean, that’s what I’m after, a connection.”
Christiansen has self published several books including a recent children’s book, “Coronado Wildlife,” which features print copies of her paintings like the not-so-well-known burrowing owl.
According to Christiansen, these tiny owls are 12-inches tall and live underground within the sand dunes of North Beach in Coronado and Naval Air Station North Island, emerging to find their prey.
From November to January, Christiansen hopes to introduce people to the native and exotic animal species on the island through her “Coronado Wildlife” art series currently on display inside the Chase Bank lobby, at 1000 Orange Ave. The exhibit highlights eight original paintings selected from a collection of 30 local species.
Christiansen said she hopes to install the copies of the paintings on tiles as a public art piece in the future.
“If I can get (people) intrigued by the art, I’m happy,” said Christiansen, who will explore abstract expressionism in the upcoming year.
To learn more about Christiansen, visit her website at https://coronadoartcolony.com/.
