Art allows me to express my emotions: whether it is a sense of play, frustration with covid or deep gratitude at just being alive and being able to see.
I was initially trained as an archaeologist and am married to an ice age specialist. I became deeply fascinated by how different landscapes were formed and used over the millennia. I have been blessed to have lived in prairies, mountainous areas and to have travelled. This allowed me to see the threatening purples of Prairie storms advancing, the gorgeous reds of the sugar maples in the East and the dry, hot azure blue of the Mediterranean basin. Many of my paintings express these various colours with river basins and mountainous areas appearing just by serendipity.
I have a strong faith in God and often fill my studio with worship music when I prepare to paint. I spend time choosing the colours for my palette based on my vision. Sometimes I use colours that are not my favourite to challenge my process. One of my great art teachers gave us this exercise in class and I value it to this day.
Some colours sing to me. They have voices, smells, and textures. I love the flow of paint and love to see the colours speak to each other as they blend and flow. I know that a painting is working when I feel my heart racing, a voice in my head suggesting the next stroke, colour, or technique. My arm and hand tremble. Painting is like a dance on paper or canvas. It is also a deeply intimate and personal experience. I cannot easily create in a classroom or group. I need the silence to stop, listen, and then move.
Photography has also allowed me to be creative. I can capture the weird and wonderful things I see in the landscapes, forests, archaeological mysteries, or light reflections. I lost my ability to explore the places I loved when I got sick. Now I concentrate on capturing the minutia of the inside of plants in my garden or the insects busy pollinating them using my iPhone. The colours and the detail of the interiors of plants is breathtaking in all the seasons. I have been told that some of my images are beautiful and startling.
I hope you find joy in exploring some of these pictures.
You can see these on www.christine-long-art.ca or @christinelong6620
Christine Long
January 2026