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exhibitions
2011 festivité 2011, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2011 20in11, woodward gallery, new york city
2011 patrick christie ink. III, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2011 canterbury art show
2011 annual works on paper, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2010 festivité 2010, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2010 stanthorpe art prize, stanthorpe regional art gallery, qld
2010 toyota community spirit gallery, port melbourne
2009 natural selection, green-wood gallery, south melbourne
2009 patrick christie ink. II, becker minty, sydney
2008 patrick christie ink. I, green-wood gallery, south melbourne
2008 art melbourne ‘08, represented by green-wood gallery, south melbourne
artprizes
2011 finalist, waverly art prize, waverly woollahra art school, sydney, nsw
2011 finalist, prometheus art award, all saints anglican school, merrimac, qld
2010 finalist, stanthorpe art prize, stanthorpe regional art gallery, qld
within a time of technology saturation
a breath of fresh air
simple elegance of pen and ink
unlimited in imagination
preserved with intricate clarity
captured in exquisite detail
the art of patrick christie
return visually and emotionally
to a simpler time
a less complicated life
2011 festivité 2011, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2011 20in11, woodward gallery, new york city
2011 patrick christie ink. III, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2011 canterbury art show
2011 annual works on paper, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2010 festivité 2010, catherine asquith gallery, collingwood
2010 stanthorpe art prize, stanthorpe regional art gallery, qld
2010 toyota community spirit gallery, port melbourne
2009 natural selection, green-wood gallery, south melbourne
2009 patrick christie ink. II, becker minty, sydney
2008 patrick christie ink. I, green-wood gallery, south melbourne
2008 art melbourne ‘08, represented by green-wood gallery, south melbourne
artprizes
2011 finalist, waverly art prize, waverly woollahra art school, sydney, nsw
2011 finalist, prometheus art award, all saints anglican school, merrimac, qld
2010 finalist, stanthorpe art prize, stanthorpe regional art gallery, qld
within a time of technology saturation
a breath of fresh air
simple elegance of pen and ink
unlimited in imagination
preserved with intricate clarity
captured in exquisite detail
the art of patrick christie
return visually and emotionally
to a simpler time
a less complicated life
from the age of 10 until around 15, i was trained in oils by two professional artists. one of them
once told me something simple that profoundly affected the way i approach my art: ‘paint what
you know, not what you see’. sometimes what you see in front of you doesn’t translate to the
canvas; you must make changes so it works as a whole to the viewer. the old artist made me
paint endless tonal charts of grids and spirals—black at one end and white at the other end.
sometimes the black was replaced with red or green. at the time i was frustrated and bored—so
much time gradually going from black to white in a ridiculous number of boxes. when was i ever
going to paint pictures?!
30 years later these two lessons have become the backbone of my art
1
i set up still lifes but found i didn’t possess enough things i actually wanted to draw. they largely just sat there as i worked away, hardly giving them a glance. before long i stopped setting them up completely. painting what i know, not what i see became the basis of practicing my art
2
the first time i worked with pen and ink was when i was 10 years old. i fell in love with the medium immediately and i still have my first piece — a japanese doll in traditional geisha costume. working with one colour of ink, my mantra is ‘light brings it forward and dark pushes it away’
i love creating something intricately detailed out of three simple items:
a blank page
the finest nib
a well of ink
like most little boys, i had a fascination with insects. all animals actually, but bugs were the one animal i could sneak into my bedroom to study and observe. i always enjoyed drawing them, which evolved into one of my signature touches: at least one insect is found in all my drawings. often there’s many—a challenge for the observer to spot them all
it wasn’t until i was in my 30s, working as a specialist horse trainer and had a serious fall from a horse when i made the decision to make a career out of my art. i broke fingers on both my hands, with one of the bones almost shattering on my drawing hand. when the doctor suggested to just patch me up, he assumed i didn't use my hands for any particular skill. i replied, 'i do actually.' that's when i knew i had to take my art seriously — before it was taken away from me. i found the best hand surgeon available and a long rehabilitation process began
30 years later these two lessons have become the backbone of my art
1
i set up still lifes but found i didn’t possess enough things i actually wanted to draw. they largely just sat there as i worked away, hardly giving them a glance. before long i stopped setting them up completely. painting what i know, not what i see became the basis of practicing my art
2
the first time i worked with pen and ink was when i was 10 years old. i fell in love with the medium immediately and i still have my first piece — a japanese doll in traditional geisha costume. working with one colour of ink, my mantra is ‘light brings it forward and dark pushes it away’
i love creating something intricately detailed out of three simple items:
a blank page
the finest nib
a well of ink
like most little boys, i had a fascination with insects. all animals actually, but bugs were the one animal i could sneak into my bedroom to study and observe. i always enjoyed drawing them, which evolved into one of my signature touches: at least one insect is found in all my drawings. often there’s many—a challenge for the observer to spot them all
it wasn’t until i was in my 30s, working as a specialist horse trainer and had a serious fall from a horse when i made the decision to make a career out of my art. i broke fingers on both my hands, with one of the bones almost shattering on my drawing hand. when the doctor suggested to just patch me up, he assumed i didn't use my hands for any particular skill. i replied, 'i do actually.' that's when i knew i had to take my art seriously — before it was taken away from me. i found the best hand surgeon available and a long rehabilitation process began