Christine Forest
About
I began painting nearly two decades ago, deeply inspired by the brush paintings I encountered at Nijo Castle in Japan. That moment awakened something in me, and I began studying traditional brush painting with masters. When my last teacher, then 89, could no longer teach, I continued my journey through classes and workshops at Santa Monica College and the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. Though I never pursued a formal art degree—my full-time work as a psychiatrist required my full devotion—my training has been lifelong, heartfelt, and rooted in reverence for the creative process.
Artist Statement
My work lives at the intersection of emotion, memory, and the unseen—where abstract forms and layered textures become a language beyond words. I move intuitively through mixed media, allowing each piece to unfold as a journey rather than a destination. Often, I begin with a mood or a whisper of an image and let the materials guide me through layers of tension, softness, and transformation.
In Emerging Through the Storm, bold gestures and dense textures convey the force of persistence—the raw movement of something pressing forward through adversity. In contrast, In the Shadow of a Rose explores quiet resilience: a single bloom suspended in color and light, surrounded by a soft yet charged atmosphere. Though their visual worlds differ, both works are rooted in the same inquiry—how beauty, vulnerability, and strength coexist within us and around us.
At the heart of my work is the desire to create a space of refuge. In a world often filled with pain, uncertainty, and noise, I want viewers to feel bathed in warmth—reassured by color, flow, and quiet beauty. As a fully trained psychiatrist with over 20 years in private practice, I spend my days helping others reconnect with hope. My art offers another path toward healing—one that speaks through texture, color, and feeling rather than words.