Christine Reed Artist Statement

Being creative has been encouraged my entire life but I didn’t get into drawing and painting much until I was a new mom at the age of 30. A friend, who was also a new mom, and I would take turns watching our babies and going to art classes. I learned how to get past creative blocks and to still my inner critic.

My photography interest came when I purchase an 1870 log home with palisade walls and moss chinking on 5 acres of land bordering Wood Lake outside Grantsburg, Wisconsin. I created a website called Unfettered Java with the idea of using creative methods to facilitate communication. My log home in the woods was a perfect place to host some art retreats and art classes. I love breaking down those voices that have people believing they just can’t draw or aren’t creative. I see art and taking time to create as a gift to myself. I set no expectations. I just wait to see what spills out of me. What I don’t like today could catapult me to a different perspective next month. Some things just need to percolate a bit while others come easier.

My mom spent her summers on Bailey Island since the age of 6 and met my dad when they were both students at the university in Orono. I’ve been coming to the Harpswell area summers my entire life with the goal of moving here when both of my kids were launched. Covid made that goal both easier and harder, but I am so happy to be here! I have been painting daily for the last 5 years as this area sparks the creative in me and I feel so blessed!

Cheers and Blessings! - Christine Reed