Featured Artist: Christie Shinn

There is something unique about Chrisite Shinn. Her story, her attitude and her personality are all an interesting blend of realness that inherently shines in her paintings.

Christie developed a passion for surfing at a young age and it was this passion that brought her to the North Shore of Oahu. As a self taught artist, Christie painted not only what she saw, but what she experienced as life on the North Shore.

This experience isn’t always a pristine sunset or a perfect wave. It is band posters on a telephone pole, backyard pools, friends on the bike path and stickered up street signs. All these little things make up a large portion of how Christie experiences the North Shore.

She has garnered much attention from this perspective; her art was featured on the 2008 Vans Triple Crown tee shirt and on display in the Haleiwa Wyland gallery in 2009.

The special thing about all this attention is the different reasons people are attracted to it. Whether it is her super clean style or her simple subjects that speak so loudly, people can relate to her art on a more esoteric level.

We caught up with Christie while she was back at home in Canada. Take a minute to see what makes her be.

-What was it like growing up in Canada with an obsession for surfing?

I grew up about as far away from surfing as you can get, so I had a lot of years to wonder and imagine how it would be. My fascination with surfing started when I was about 6. My dad was a windsurfer and since I was too small to lift the sail out of the water, he’d push me on the board into the waves on the lake. I loved it!

It wasn’t until after high school that I got my chance to surf.  I figured at one point I’d have to do some traveling if I was serious about it, so I went on my first trip, a 5 month surf adventure.

Maybe it’s because I waited so long, but my first surf was one of the most monumental and unforgettable days of my life.

-It’s no secret that the North Shore is a very special place. What makes it that way for you and how does it affect you as an artist.

I’d come to Hawaii from Canada with a corresponding amount of surf skill, so I wasn’t there to prove myself as a surfer, which is what makes it special for so many other people. My interest at first was strictly to see if it was real. I had mythologized it for so many years, I wanted to see it for myself.

The more I integrated into the community, the more I appreciated the aspects of everyday life I didn’t notice as a visitor. I loved feeling like I was a part of this special place, but I also knew I’d always be an outsider. When I started painting, I came to appreciate living somewhere in between because I could see both the magic and the reality at the same time.

-A lot of your art seems to have an affinity towards simple subjects (posters on a light pole). Is that a result of your surroundings on the North Shore, or just more of your personal style?

I like art that elevates the everyday experience.  My favorite artists are ones who portray the smaller moments in life with the same reverence as other artists do for the epic scenes. I try to do it in my own work because the North Shore is so much more than the post card images. I want to show my North Shore, which has broken boards hanging out of trash cans and graffiti and barefoot kids on bikes and friends and dogs and…..

-You are a self taught artist. Does that play a special role in your art as far as learning and evolving?

My parents encouraged me to take out books from the library and teach myself whatever I needed to know. I followed my own curiosity wherever it took me whether that was a classical artist or a comic book. My style is a mash up of artists I love and subjects I find personally inspiring.

I guess my art would have been a lot different if I had the opportunity to be professionally critiqued. I’m pretty sure my work wouldn’t have made the grade in art school so I’m a little glad I didn’t go through that. If you’ve seen the movie Art School Confidential, it explains a lot about my aversion to school.

-Do you ever put the paint brush down and dabble in other art forms? Which ones do you enjoy the most?

I like to collaborate with my dad, who has a CNC machine.  We make modular sculptures. I make the pieces on the computer and he cuts them out of wood.

-Are you a surfing artist or an artist who surfs?

Oh like which one do I put first? I used to consider myself a surfer above all else, but as much pleasure as I still get from surfing, I spend more time at the easel than anywhere else these days. I’m an artist who surfs.

-Do you have a special routine when you go to work on a piece? Music/superstitions/locations?

Sometimes I like to listen to talk radio.  I don’t really listen to it, but it’s more calming than straight silence, so it puts me in the right frame of mind to zone out.

-What’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?

I sleep walk occasionally. I ended up in my roommate’s closet one night, ripping his clothes off their hangers to the floor.  It was pretty embarrassing when he turned on the light and I had no idea what happened or how to explain why I was there.

-Tell us something that even your closest friends may not know about you.

I also know all the words to the musical “A Chorus Line”. 

-How do you pay the bills?

Barely! I try not to have a lot of bills in the first place, but the inevitable ones are paid with my art money. 

-Where in the world do you want to go that you have yet to see?

Honestly if I got the chance, I’d check out any place.  If there’s something I’ve learned from traveling so far, it’s that fun and adventure can be found pretty much anywhere.

-Do you have a life motto?

Make art and slide down things!

-Right now you move around with the season. Where do you ultimately see yourself settling, if ever?

I do move around, mostly because I’m a Canadian citizen and I can’t stay in the US for more than 6 months in a year.

I would eventually like to have the choice as to how long I stay in Hawaii, but for now I’m making the best of it. I never take it for granted because it’s always in the back of my mind that I have to leave. I try to make every day a little adventure.

-Do you have a piece of yours that is a personal favorite?

It always changes. The one I just finished always has a special place in my heart until I can forget how much time and effort went into it.  Ones with friends in them are always a little more special.  Every piece represents a good memory though, so I have a hard time picking favorites.

-If I were to come to where you are right now for one day only, what would we do?

We’d have a coffee and doughnut breakfast at Tim Hortons. Then off to Blue Mountain to snowboard all day if the conditions are good. If it’s icy and below -20, I’d say a trip to the Spa Scandanave for the afternoon to warm up (hot springs).  A beaver tail for a snack (flat doughnut with Nutella) Dinner at the Beaver and Bulldog pub so you could try the greatest poutine in the land (That’s fresh cut fries topped with cheese curds and gravy). If there’s time…. maybe a trip into Toronto to see an art show and play pub bingo (I won a bust of Elvis once!).

-What do you feel is one of your biggest accomplishments as an artist.

I did some art for the Triple Crown in 2008.  Wow, that seems like so long ago now, I’d better get moving on a new big accomplishment!

-Who’s art do you enjoy? What does it make you think about?

-Andrew Pommier, it makes me think about small town life and finding interesting characters within it.

-Michael Sieben, it reminds me of a really creepy version of the folk art style my grandma taught me.

-Henri Rousseau, he was a customs agent and a painter on his spare time. He was ridiculed his whole artistic life for his primitive style, but later he became known as a self-taught genius! That’d be nice. Preferably before dying.

-What’s next?

I’m not sure, hopefully a bit of the same and lots of new things!

We want to thank Christie for her time and insight. You guys should really check out more of Christie’s stuff, it’s well worth browsing.

shinnstudio.com
theartofshinn.com