Christine Bigmore was born and brought up in Surrey, with a powerful desire to draw and paint from an early age, encouraged by a family who all enjoyed painting, drawing and other creative pastimes. Her strength in this area showed itself from an early age.
 
At school she continued to develop in artistic ability, winning a Senior prize for Art. She continued her studies at Croydon College of Art and Design, where she gained A levels in Practical Art and History of Art.

 At this stage, economic necessities dictated that she find employment instead of furthering her artistic studies. Various clerical posts gave her experience that helped in her next employment, a job that utilised the creative knowledge and experience gained at college. She arranged for the production of postage stamp issues for overseas governments. This included the commissioning of artwork and the checking of proofs, through to the printing and despatch; an eye for detail was invaluable. It was a creative job and one that brought her into direct contact with commercial artists and their work, planting in her a seed of confidence that she was capable of producing comparable work.
 
Christine left work in 1990 to concentrate on her new family, but she still yearned for artistic fulfilment. As soon as she was able, she enrolled at evening classes and continued them for approximately 6 years, studying Figure and Portrait drawing and painting, watercolour and oil painting techniques. Within months of starting evening classes she began receiving commissions for a wide variety of artwork. She made it her policy to undertake any subject in any medium as she felt that only by taking on new challenges and working through them would she learn and improve her craft. She also took further tutelage where time permitted, which included courses at the City Literary Guild in Fleet Street, The Mall Galleries and the Royal College of Art. All through this time she had a steady flow of commissions, many via a local gallery. She completed works of subjects ranging from portraiture to domestic animals, through to wildlife and children’s book illustrations. One painting has been reproduced as a limited edition print entitled Tiger, a portrait. (SEE Tiger Page.)

In 1998 she was asked by The Webster Gallery in Oxshott, Surrey to produce a Still life painting, this painting was very well received and the gallery soon had a waiting list for Christine’s work. 
 
In 2004 the Oxshott Gallery had to close due to ill health. Christine was delighted to find a new gallery for her work in Frost & Reed of St. James, London, where she remains and where her latest work is on view.

    Frost & Reed Fine Art Dealers, 2-4 King Street, St. James’s, London.  Tel; 020 7839 4645  
To see Christine's work that is currently available for purchase click on the link below (Frost & Reed)     then click on Christine Bigmore.

             http://www.frostandreed.com/london/search/artistsbyperiod.asp?period=4

WARNING If you click on the above link this will take you to the web site of Frost & Reed -Christine Bigmore. To RETURN to this web site click on the left hand arrow at the top of your screen.

                           Christine's work can also be viewed and purchased at

                           Royall Fine Art, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TN

     Their website www.royallfineart.co.uk      Email enquires enquiries@royalfineart.co.uk 

For Christine, a painting starts with the challenge of achieving a balanced set up, the right collection of pieces in the correct positioning to give the composition balance and harmony. To create a picture that could be part of an everyday life, perhaps suggesting a narrative, a story of what might be.
 
Working on her own, she takes a pride in solving the problems inherent in detailed work such as this. There are always new solutions to be found and she feels that it sometimes seems that there is a magic in the paint when a picture starts to take on a depth and life of its own. She takes her inspiration from the 16th Century Dutch artists who had such a mastery of this genre.
 
“When painting a Still Life you find yourself immersed in the huge variety of colours, forms and details that can so easily be taken for granted. I love the fact that I can reach out and feel the surfaces, smell the cheese, drink the wine! I enjoy the challenge of differentiating between those textures.”

 Each painting takes 2 – 3 months to produce and consists of many layers of oil colour. By painting this way, she introduces the richness and depth of colour that she aims for to give her work a sense of reality and to show the beauty of what can be everyday objects. The element that seems to be of particular appeal, is the scene that appears in the reflections of the glassware.  It is a scene itself within the picture, that of the interior of her studio and the view from the window. 

 Christine’s work has been exhibited in several UK galleries and can be found in private collections in Europe, the US and South Africa. Should a client wish it, she will also paint a commissioned Still life where their own pieces can be included within the painting.

                                          Email:- chris.christine@hotmail.co.uk

                                     Christine can be contacted on 0778 688 4217.