James C. Christensen (1942-2017) was an American artist of religious and fantasy art and formerly an instructor at Brigham Young University. James C. Christensen (1942-2017) was an American artist of religious and fantasy art and formerly an instructor at Brigham Young University. James Christensen artwork is inspired by myths, fables, fantasies, and tales of imagination. Applying his eye for the fantastic to people, landscapes and creatures (both real and imagined), Christensen has created a rich and strangely familiar world, rendered with exquisite skill and detail.
Painting in a variety of styles, from the lush Saints and Angels series reminiscent of European old master works, like "Madonna and Two Angels", to his whimsical and humorous works of satire like "Resistance Training", Christensen artwork appeals to a broad range of collectors.
"My aim," says Christensen, "always begins with a desire to connect with another imagination." He adds, "My work is an invitation to let your imagination run wild, explore, and make interpretations spontaneously."
20. In short: all things are possible when you share Christensen’s philosophy that “Believing is Seeing.”
Christensen was born in 1942 and raised in Culver City, California. He studied painting at Brigham Young
University and, for a while, the University of California at Los Angeles before finishing his formal education at
BYU. Since then, he has had one-man shows in the West and the Northeast and his work is prized in collections
throughout the U.S. and Europe. Christensen has also won all the professional art honors the World Science
Fiction and Fantasy Convention can bestow, as well as multiple Chesley Awards from the Association of Science
Fiction and Fantasy Artists. Christensen has been designated as a “Utah Art Treasure,” one of Utah’s Top 100
Artists by the Springville Museum of Art and received the Governor’s Award for Art awarded by the Utah Arts
Council recognizing the significance of Christensen’s artwork to Utah’s cultural communities.
Inspired by the world’s myths, fables
and tales of imagination, James C.
Christensen’s work adds up to more
than a beautiful - if sometimes
“curious” looking work of art.
Having taught art professionally for
over 20 years, he thought of the
world as his classroom. His hope is
that through whatever he creates -
- be it a porcelain, fine art print or
book -- he can convey a message,
inspiration or a simple laugh. He
believes that teaching people to use
their imagination helps us find
solutions to sooth the stresses of
everyday life-or get a little lift to
help us keep going.
56. Sound: India Arie Simpson - I Am Light
.2020
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