Art and Soul Blog Hop - Christine Atkins

Hello Blog Hoppers,

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to Christine Atkins. Christine's blog can be found at http://www.christineatkinsart.blogspot.com/.  I took a very enjoyable tour of her blog and her website  Her passion for her work is evident. She works with an amazing array of media and is a master of all of them!

 Christine will be coming all the way from  sunny Western Australia to teach at Art and Soul in Hampton. She'll be teaching Capture My Heart and the No Solder Etched Shadow Boxes on Thursday and Friday, and teaching a two day master class, Found, Etched and Conncected,  with Jenn Crossley on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Here are some questions she answered for me for the blog hop:

What 4 tools can’t you live without?

There are many tools I can’t live without but my main four would be my drill, hammer (what can’t you fix with a hammer), pliers and my workbench.

 After art, what else is your passion?

ART ART ART

My art rules my life, when I am not in my day job I am tucked away in my studio.  I pretty much only venture out when I have to eat, take the dog for a walk or the dust balls become a hazard around the house (or I need to clean up for visitors). 

What aspect of teaching do you love the most?

What I get most out of teaching is experiencing others' creativity.  I feel as a teacher you always have something to learn from each student.  They will take what you are showing them and incorporate their own symbols and journeys as well as different skill sets into creating a unique art piece.  This would be my favorite part of teaching as well as meeting like-minded creative people who are passionate about the same thing as me. 

Do you have a favorite technique?

I go through phases of favoring different mediums and techniques.  At the moment I am focusing on metal sculptures through lost wax casting and one-off jewelry pieces, however my artistic beginnings had its roots in fiber art.  I have a short attention span and like to constantly push my knowledge and skill so when I have reached a plateau in one medium I will move to something else to learn.  I think as human beings we have an innate drive to learn, create and move forward. 

Do you work in a planned or intuitive way?  How would you describe your approach?

I work in a mixture of ways from sketches to ideas in my mind to just beginning a piece.  The majority of my work starts out as a completed picture in my mind, but when I begin it takes on a life of its own and frequently ends up different from the original design.  I let the materials lead the design where it wants to go. 

What advice do you have for someone beginning their art journey?

Create Create Create. 

Practice makes perfect

And most importantly there is joy in the creating not only the finished product.  (That is the art therapist in me talking).

 Christine's blog can be found at http://www.christineatkinsart.blogspot.com/ Her web page is www.christineatkins.net.You can also find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/ChristineAtkinsArtist.

Leave a comment on my blog and I will choose one winner to receive a packet like this from Judy at Artistic Artifacts. I was there when they were assembling them the other day, and the packets are filled with all kinds of goodies! I will also include one of my steampunk bird charm necklaces, shown below.

Now hop on over to Liz Kettle's blog for the next stop: http://www.textileevolution.com/?option=com_wordpress&Itemid=203