We recently connected with Christine Winship and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I started small, doing commission work of people’s pets. It was fun, as I love animals, and people love talking about their animals. I had done a few, with a makeshift setup that my father helped me put together. However, some days, it was a little exhausting and soul-crushing that after putting your entire display together and sitting for hours, no one would make a purchase.
One sunny day at a small-town arts festival, someone came into my booth and loved “Beau’s muffin,” a watercolor that I had done a few years previously. It was of Beau, my mom’s dog, resting his golden retriever head on the table with a corn muffin in front of him. In the painting, I captured the yearning in his eyes… waiting for Mum’s “okay” to eat the entire corn muffin.
The woman who bought it had golden retrievers herself and did, in fact, collect “dog art.” She paid with a check and came back at the end of the day with her dog, who was delightful. I was thrilled. This was the first time you sold a piece out of your own portfolio to someone who is not a friend or someone in your family—someone who really likes your work—someone who is connecting to a piece—your piece.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a graduate of the Art Institute of Boston. In my senior year of art school, they opened the computer lab. In there, it was difficult to wrap my head around something that I could create so much better by hand. And unfortunately, it didn’t bode well for me as there was a massive shift to create with technology vs. a paintbrush. However, I continued to pursue my art, creating small things like Christmas cards and such. I had a friend who was having a birthday and decided to give him a portrait of his dog. He was very emotional when he received it; from there, his mother and sister ordered a painting of their dogs. From there, I started the pet portrait “push” and started to build a following not only in the art community but the dog rescue community and the cat fanciers. After some time, I expanded my portfolio with landscape and nature scenes. My art became a place of tranquility for me and the viewer.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society needs to embrace differences in art and in artists, be open-minded, and attend art shows and open studios. There’s an onslaught of mass-produced wall art that is neither interesting nor compelling to the viewer. Successful art pieces are the ones that move the viewer and evoke emotion. But unless that viewer is willing to open their mind to be moved, we will just keep seeing the same generic images.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s truly rewarding when someone connects with one of your pieces. Sometimes as an artist, I feel a lot of it is screaming into the void. “Does anyone understand what I want to do? Does anyone understand what I say in my work?” but when they do, it’s amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thepedigreeartist.com
• Instagram: @thepedigreeartist

Image Credits

photo of me taken by Kevin Jordan (Insta @kevindjordanphoto)