We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christine Hales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

It has taken a long time for me to be able to earn a living from my creative work. I graduated from the Massachusetts College of art in Boston with a dual major- Teaching and Painting. Being able to teach has made a big difference in supplementing my income when commissions or sales have been slow.
I always wanted to be a teacher, but when my high school art teachers suggested I try to get in to Mass Art, and get an art degree, I thought I would give it a try. It was very difficult to get into Mass Art at the time, and I was very surprised when I was accepted! I am so very grateful for their support and belief in me, and for the high quality of art education I received from Mass Art.
Many years later, I got my Masters Degree in Art Therapy from the College of New Rochelle in New York, and this has helped with teaching too. Creating art involves an opening up of our hearts, being vulnerable, and challenging our limitations. art therapy helps me to understand how best to support each student inter creative journeys. It has also helped me to create art work that inspires my faith and to have the courage to stand strong even when encountering resistance either from within or from outside sources.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I first encountered Icons while on a photography trip with my husband, Mick Hales, in France. We visited many monasteries and convents for his book” Monastic Gardens”, and at the beautiful St. Georges de Garde convent I was introduced to their Iconographer, Sister Myriam, who proceeded to amaze me with her explanation of how icons are incredible, powerful images of our Faith, and that they inspire us and give us hope, while also being impeccable works of art.
When we returned home to New York, I began studying with the best Iconographers I could find, even traveling to Europe, and Russia. Now I teach others how to paint Icons because I know that the process of painting them is spiritually healing for the iconographer as well as for the people who view the completed icons. So much good is accomplished by these beautiful art works and I am honored to be able to paint and share them with others.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I would say that I have both a mission and a creative goal for my work. My mission is to create beautiful, inspiring art work that lifts people’s spirits and gives them hope. There are many kinds of art expressions, each with different purposes, but for me, my purpose is to edify and lift up human beings to encourage them to be their best selves and to meet challenges confidently . Matisse famously said that he wanted his art work to give people rest and comfort. I believe that our times require something different, a strengthening of our hearts and spirits to meet life’s challenges with bravery and courage, and that is what I hope to provide and inspire in my art work.
My creative goal is to take a fourteenth century model of art making and transform it by using modern materials and approaches to drawing and painting while still retaining the power of ancient traditions, such as sacred geometry, etc. and the inscrutable holiness of Icons.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I was an art student in the 1970’s the emphasis was on free expression, in an abstract way, within a conceptual approach to both ideas and materials. In my early years I had no trouble whatever in expressing myself freely in paint, and my heroes were the Abstract Expressionists. I didn’t learn much about the Greek color palette, geometric composition, and tonalism and I absolutely love these aspects of painting now that I have learned about them through Icons and also English contemporary painters like Rachel Nicholson and American artists like Whistler and George Inness. When I encountered the world of Icons, I had to learn to use egg tempera paints and apply them in a very controlled manner- completely the opposite of my way of painting learned in art college! We use natural pigments that are the rest and most ancient form of paint pigments so the colors are both vivid and jewel like. Believe it or not, managing this transition has been incredibly healing for me in many ways. I still paint freely in my journals and sketch books, but I also enjoy the way traditions and ancient painting methods provide a container for me to calm down and reflect with gratitude and patience on who I am and what I have created and pray for peace in our world while painting.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://newchristianicons.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinehalesicons/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineHalesFineArt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinehales/
• Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCK2WoRDiPivGtz2aw61FQXA/videos/upload?filter=%5B%5D&sort=%7B%22columnType%22%3A%22date%22%2C%22sortOrder%22%3A%22DESCENDING%22%7D

Image Credits

Mick Hales, Photographer