|
 Christine Collier-Trevino was born in 1950. She has lived all over the United States and Europe, traveling with her family while her father was serving as an officer in the United States Army, and with her husband, also an officer in the army.
Primarily a self taught artist, over the years she has experimented with different media such as sculpture, oil, pastels, watercolors, monotype and intaglio printmaking, pen and ink, medieval stained glass, etching and graphite drawings, producing the majority of her work as watercolor or graphite. She is best known for her accurate and sensitive treatment of horses and her work is collected by many sporting art fanciers in America. She spends most of her time with a new piece in the planning stages, deciding on the composition and the media that will best relay the emotions of the piece. “Once the problems are worked out in my mind, the actual process of putting the image down takes very little time. But I may spend 6 months to a year thinking about a piece!”
 Christine worked 24 years in the federal government as a Visual Information Specialist. She was an illustrator for the Military Review journal and several of the graphics she produced during that time were picked up and published by a national clip art company. She was the community director of the arts, photography, and crafts programs in Mainz Germany from 1982-1985. She has had work exhibited several times with the prestigious American Academy of Equine Artists. Her work has graced the covers of The Chronicle of the Horse, Flying Changes, USDF Connections, and she was the topic of several articles in such noted publications as Dressage Today, Sidelines, and others. Christine was suddenly jobless when government cutbacks affected her in 1998. Never one to let grass grow under foot, she went back to University and finished her BA in May 2004. While at Austin Peay State University, she maintained a GPA of 3.9 and was on the Dean’s list summa cum laude from January 2002 - May 2004. The United States Dressage Federation selected her work for the corporation's Christmas card twice and promoted her as the featured artist at the 2004 annual convention. She was the solo artist exhibitor the summer of 2004 in The Lobby gallery, Kansas City, Missouri.
Christine is an active dressage competitor at the highest level, Grand Prix. She competes on her horse, Sypher, who she has had for 18 years and trained through the levels. This is just another example of her persistence, patience, and attention to detail. Together they have earned numerous national awards, the USDF Bronze and Silver medals, and two scores toward the final achievement of the Gold medal
Artist's Statement
Being an artist is like being a hen. The egg will be laid. Art will find a way to live.
I enjoy experimenting with different techniques and different mediums to find what will express my idea most clearly and concisely. But conversely I think about a piece for a long time before I put my hand to it. As someone unknown advises, I paint what I know.
Inspiration comes from all sources. I read voraciously and the words and images fertilize the seeds of ideas harbored within my memories. If any emotion is reflected in my work, humor is foremost. I feel that I see things from a different perspective and I try to express that viewpoint. I don’t want to spell things out. I want my art to send you sensations that trigger your own memories. I hope that my love of my subjects comes across.
I have recently begun exploring two ideas in separate series, The Olympians and Evolution. In Evolution, I am trying to show the connection through the centuries between art and horses. Beginning with the Lascaux cave paintings, I was intrigued by how such primitive artist materials were so eloquent in expressing the nature and spirit of the horse. I have used several techniques to express this series, including sculpture. This journey isn’t over yet.
The Olympians series are portraits of past, present and potentially future Olympic equine athletes. I have been fortunate to meet several of the horses in my portraits and through this knowledge of their personalities I chose the medium and technique for their portraits.
|
