Building bridges
Christine Columbo, Over the Rainbow, oil, 30 x 30.
This story was featured in the August 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
WHEN CHRISTINE Columbo set out to paint a portrait of her 6-year-old cousin Ethan, she hoped to communicate the story of a child who’s just beginning to find his way in the world with an emerging sense of autonomy. “I’m trying to point to that dichotomy about how each of us is unique and beautiful, but also seeks connection to others,” says Columbo. “And I think that happens at this age. Ethan is starting to grow into his own personality.” For the artist’s portrait, which garnered an honorable mention in Oil Painters of America’s Spring Online Showcase, Ethan wore a T-shirt featuring the rumpled words Wildlife Expedition. “He dressed himself that day, and I thought it was perfect,” she says. “Life is like that—life is kind of a wild ride.”
Columbo’s own journey in life was marked by an early passion and talent for drawing. She went on to pursue academic studies in art, computer programming, and business, eventually establishing a thriving career in all of those fields in New York City. “I did what we all do, which is to try to create a life of happiness for myself,” she says, “but I wasn’t fulfilled on a deeper level.” So, at age 35, Columbo pursued a different path altogether: She became a monastic, dedicating the next few decades to spiritual growth and reflection. “The world became beautiful and new again, and my mind got quieter,” she says.
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- Christine Columbo, Wildlife Expedition, oil, 24 x 16
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- Christine Columbo, Secret Garden, oil, 17 x 11.
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- Christine Columbo, Sophia, oil, 24 x 24.
With this fresh outlook, Columbo started drawing and painting again in 2016. Awards and gallery representation quickly followed; recently, the artist moved from Colorado to New Mexico to be near the state’s flourishing community of art galleries. Meanwhile, she continues to hone her techniques as an oil painter, including “taking hard and soft edges to extremes,” notes Columbo, “blurring certain edges so you may not know what they were if they were isolated from the rest of the painting.”
The artist’s delicate blending of realism and abstraction lends her works a softened, reflective quality reminiscent of old masters like Renoir. Her figurative subjects are often portrayed in moments of pause, says Columbo. “I think, in those moments, something new is being introduced to us, and I think that’s a catalyst for self-growth,” she says. “I love that art can be a bridge away from the island of ourselves into a vaster experience of life.” —Kim Agricola
representation
Sage Fine Art Gallery, Taos, NM; Art111 Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO; Firedworks Gallery, Alamosa, CO; Crestone Artisans Gallery, Crestone, CO; www.christinecolumbo.com.
Christine Columbo, Summer, oil, 16 x 16.
This story was featured in the August 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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