C. BLOCH ARTS

CHRISTINA BLOCH BIOGRAPHY

So often one’s childhood passions--along with budding dreams--are put away on a long-forgotten shelf. Such was the case for me, many years ago, when I had to choose between my love of art and my need for financial stability.

I was only 12 years old when my father passed away, leaving our family in difficult financial circumstances. I reluctantly packed away my paints and brushes and poured my creative energy into attending school and college, establishing a career and raising two children. My dormant artistic nature, however, would ultimately reveal itself on the various canvases in my life: in the kaleidoscope of colors of the plants and trees I tended in my backyard, in the culinary creations prepared in my kitchen and images captured in my camera throughout journeys abroad. Still, something was missing.

And so twenty-four years after putting away my art implements, I took them down from the shelf. In the dust of dreams deferred, I discovered the childlike joy of unleashing my creativity. Classes in life-drawing and acrylics led to fascination and experimentation with textures, lines and collage. Nowadays, I approach each of my pieces with an idea in mind, but with an openness and willingness for inspiration to guide me. The end result that emerges from the process often surprises me, for my hopes and fears and feelings subtly appear in every image.

Although my journey back to Art has been long and sporadic, I feel my life has come full circle. My work reflects the woman who I now am, the experiences that have highlighted my days, the brightness of my joys, the shades of my sorrows and the passion for paint and paper that I never have and never will outgrow.