Career
Christine Pratt was born in 1953 and she is a first generation university graduate. She grew up as an only child in a small mining village in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Having graduated, she gained a PGCE at the University of Birmingham. Christine began her career as a French teacher at Droitwich High School in Worcestershire. In 1978, she moved to Leamington Spa with her husband. There she joined a car transporting company, initially as a clerical assistant and later as fleet logistics coordinator. She then took a break for several years, during which she adopted and raised two daughters. Subsequently, she worked for a company manufacturing decorative garden paving, where she remained until retirement in 2016.
Artistic Development
In 2018, Christine joined a small local art group and immediately took to acrylic painting. After a promising first few months, however, her progress was hampered by a badly shattered wrist. Unable to use her dominant right hand, Christine used the next few months to her benefit by genning up on artistic techniques and through on-line courses. As her dexterity returned, she practised her drawing skills, following the former website, ‘ArtTutor’. She attributes much of what she has learnt to the teaching skills of artist, Phil Davies (he’s now begun DrawAwesome as a successor to ArtTutor}.
“Phil has a wonderfully friendly and approachable teaching style. He seems to understand what pupils might find difficult and explains well how to tackle a drawing. His sense of humour makes his lessons really enjoyable too.” These tutorials inspired Christine to tackle a series of family portraits in graphite pencil. “Portrait painting,” she claims, “can be really satisfying. I enjoy the process of shading, which is so therapeutic, especially when everything falls into place. I’m fascinated when I see a likeness gradually emerging. It’s great to think that you can summon up an image as if by magic – even if it does take several attempts to get there. It’s well worth being patient and persevering!”
By the time of the COVID 19 lockdown in March 2020, Christine had already gained greater confidence in her artistic ability so that she was able to continue painting independently.
Moving on…
Since then, she has begun to establish her own style, adapting her drawing and shading skills to colour media. With an emphasis on acrylic painting, she has built up an impressive portfolio, which covers a breadth of subjects ranging from landscapes to figurative studies. Taking inspiration from the world around her, she has an eye for detail and a strong desire to record her own experiences for others to share. Christine Pratt has exhibited her paintings at the LSA ARTROOM, Leamington Spa and she has sold several of her works.
Christine is a member of SAA, LSA (Leamington Studio Artists) and CWSA (Coventry and Warwickshire Society of Artists)