5 minutes with artist Cristina Rose (Courtesy of Norfolk Online News)

5 minutes with artist Cristina Rose.

How long have you been painting?

Ever since I was child and was given paint with water books when I was about 3 or 4, I have been fascinated with paint and brushes ever since. My childhood house had different patterned wallpaper in each room. I remember using a fine brush and an egg cup of water to trace all the patterns. Mum probably gave it to me to keep me out of mischief.

What are your favourite things to paint?

I love my underwater paintings as much as I love snorkelling. So much serenity to be found down there, I could quite happily be a mermaid.
I love painting turtles, coralscapes, jellyfish and tropical fish.
The ebb and flow under the water is so relaxing, I actually feel like I am there while painting an underwater scene.

What are your least favourite things to paint? 

 Abstracts and realism (portraits and landscapes)I cant take photos if I want realism.

My art always turns out a little quirky and cartoon like so I wouldn’t even try to pretend to be a real landscape artist.

What or who inspires you?

People, when they give me challenges and commissions I hadn’t thought of doing before. Or if they ask me to do one of my favourite paintings in a totally new way.

And Colours! I love colour.
2 childrens book authors & illustrators I really love are Shirley Barber and Donna Green.

What is next on your list of goals?

I love whimsy, little bright coloured paintings that catch children’s attention, like little mushrooms with a fairy hiding behind. A dream would be to write and illustrate my own children’s books.

I always wanted to design a postage stamp and got that opportunity with Norfolk Island Philatelic, so I will always be grateful for that.

What do you love most about living on Norfolk Island?

 The natural beauty of the whole island. Every nook and cranny, every vista and view. And the ease of getting anywhere, it is all 5-10 minutes away, no traffic jams or traffic lights, just the occassional slow tourist looking around. Plus you can park straight up at the beach and jump out almost on the sand. The community spirit is pretty awesome too.

What would you change on Norfolk Island?

More ART! More volunteers to work with Community arts to keep the old favourite activities going such as art in the park and the yearly art exhibition.

I would love to see an art trail here and Burnt Pine shopping precinct boosted with some art and murals on the walls of the alleys and even the front of shops, maybe some sculptures also down the street. I absolutely love Norfolk Island, the colours are amazing. I would love to see more of the pacific flavour throughout the street with street art…. Maybe it will be a good project for me to run, one day.

Find cristinaroseart on Instagram and on facebook as art & murals by Cristina Rose.

She loves having fun and running competitions for locals like the great art treasure hunt and Free art Friday.

Currently she is running a comp where you name exactly what you want painted by her and she will draw your name out of a hat. Good luck everyone.

If you want her photography page, find her at Captured by Cristina Rose photography on facebook

Shiny Happy Art on Norfolk Island

When someone on island (that’s me) sees that one of her favourite artists is advertised to bring a group over to paint here, I begged to join in!

I have followed Shiny happy artist Anna Bartlett for quite a few years online always wishing that somehow I would get to her Toowoomba shiny happy art paintalongs.

Knowing the chances were slim for me with yound children and the cost of travelling off island.

So just imagine how happy I was that I could be included when they came to me!

Even better was when I made contact with  Anna, it coincided with me having to take my daughter to Qld for an arts camp and having 5 days up my sleeve to myself, I really did get to make the trek to Toowoomba and indeed join in to one of Anna's classes. Even better was that we were doing landscapes in that class based on Norfolk Island photos and some of them were mine that I granted permission to use. ( I am very happy to get any images of Norfolk Island shared around as it is such a beautiful place.)

Anna's studio is indeed as bright and vibrant as her.
The name was what reeled me in one late night on the Internet, but her talent is what kept me dreaming of painting with her.

We had dinner together in Toowoomba and then lunch after the class and I made some firm friends and stayed with the lovely Kim and Adrian. We all kept contact on facebook.

6 weeks later the group of new and familiar faces arrived on the island.

Timing wise, this was a difficult week as we were finalising our renovations and taking photos to put our house on the market. So I did miss a couple of painting sessions and dinners, but all that I did attend were wonderful. Most of the group came from Qld and a couple from NSW and one even came from America.

Our friendships grew again and I look forward to paint with them again in the future.

As Sienna was away on year six tour, Jasper accompanied me on a few painting outings. He really liked the group and wanted to hide a few art treasure hunts around the island for them to find.
#norfolkislandtreasurehunt as seen on Art & Murals by Cristina Rose

He also got to draw with us on the cliff tops of Anson bay, he chose to draw his shoes and nobbly knees.

 Painting en plein air on location around picturesque Norfolk Island was an amazing experience.

Of course Anna is a wonderful teacher & artist!

 And then we ate, ate, ate, drank and were very merry!

 All too soon it was time to say goodbye for now.
I hope to continue to be a shiny happy artist in the near future.

art treasure hunt

 

 

The great Norfolk Island Art Treasure Hunt begins

Art & Murals by Cristina Rose·Saturday, 6 May 2017

 

The community & people of Norfolk Island are very near and dear to me & have been for over 40 years. The recent few years have been very trying for this community and many have lost that sparkle and ability to laugh at themselves and each other, so I wanted to do something fun to encourage people to go discovering their island and hopefully enjoy themselves while giving a reward at the end.

After I closed my preschool, I needed a little time out too and finally am ready to get back into my artwork again but feel like I should clear out some older art items left over from soul gallery etc first.

SO, why not give it away for free and make a game out of it?

There is a movement out there called art abandonment where people leave their handmade goods somewhere to be found with a card and the findee reports back to the website when they find it. Some stories are heartfelt about how they had a hard day and being gifted something special for free and for no particular reason at all except to brighten someones day is the greatest uplifting gift of all.

The rules are simple.

I will hide a piece of my art or photography somewhere on the island every Friday.

There will be a clue given every Friday (either early morning or afternoon) on my Art & Murals by Cristina Rose facebook page

See link here https://www.facebook.com/cristinaroseart/

Or on my Instagram page here https://www.instagram.com/cristinaroseart/

Then anyone in the community can go searching. Tourists are welcome also to join in if they find it first, lucky them.

If you find it, you keep it. If you don’t want or need the art piece you give it to someone you love.

Take a photo (can be taken where you find it or when you take it home)

Post the photo back onto facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #norfolkislandtreasurehunt

AND #cristinaroseart

It is that easy to have some fun and give something back.

I have already had wonderful feedback and my captured by Cristina Rose photography page plus my art & murals by Cristina Rose pages have had 1000% more traffic in the past few days.

I have some disappointed friends and family members in Noosa who wished they could play, so plans are underway for my sister to hide my artwork around that area so they can play too.

Hopefully this can keep inspiring me to continue with new works of art to give some happiness to people who need it.

The feedback and smiles I have received this week tell me it is already working whether you find something or not.

So, good luck everyone. I hope you find something special out there on the island whether you win the treasure or not.

Maybe the real treasure is rediscovering this amazing island and finding nooks and crannies you have never seen before.

 

Winners winners, Chicken dinners!