'Taken by the wind'

Christine Oliphant is best known for her colourful abstract paintings. Her work is a mixture of expressive marks and joyful colour combinations. Inspiration is found in the observed glimpse of a place, the effect of light on a surface, the balance of different shapes, and the emotional excitement of colour, all of which she finds in her garden.

Recently she has visited gardens with a more tropical feel in warmer climates and this has provided another source of influence in her work, with sharper shapes and bolder colours. She is particularly drawn to intense, bright colours and the chaos and exuberance of a garden slightly out of control. She tries to capture this in her painting by working in a spontaneous and intuitive way The use of colour and its emotional effect on the viewer is something she finds fascinating and which she is constantly exploring in her paintings in an attempt to replicate her own emotional response to the natural world.

Based locally in Tarporley Christine has been involved in many solo and collaborative projects and exhibitions. She is a keen advocate for the positive health benefits of creativity and runs art sessions at Mid-Cheshire Mind on a voluntary basis as well as workshops for local groups.