Annalisa Christiansen: Shack Bay By Liane Arno
THERE aren’t many good things that have come out of our battle with COVID19 – but Annalisa Christiansen’s beautiful landscape paintings are some of them.
It was like the world had halted for Annalisa. She didn’t feel guilty by taking the time and mental space to paint when she picked up a paintbrush and started capturing the scenes around her.
It was the inspiring landscape of the Bass Coast that had brought her, her partner and two children to Inverloch. They previously lived in Tallarook in the middle of a forest and 20 minutes at the end of a dusty road. It was beautiful and charming for a couple but when the children were born the 20 minutes’ drive became a burden to be commuted endlessly during the day and an isolating reality in the midst of the bushfire season.
THERE aren’t many good things that have come out of our battle with COVID19 – but Annalisa Christiansen’s beautiful landscape paintings are some of them.
It was like the world had halted for Annalisa. She didn’t feel guilty by taking the time and mental space to paint when she picked up a paintbrush and started capturing the scenes around her.
It was the inspiring landscape of the Bass Coast that had brought her, her partner and two children to Inverloch. They previously lived in Tallarook in the middle of a forest and 20 minutes at the end of a dusty road. It was beautiful and charming for a couple but when the children were born the 20 minutes’ drive became a burden to be commuted endlessly during the day and an isolating reality in the midst of the bushfire season.
Annalisa’s parents emigrated from Denmark escaping a life of subsistence farming not long after the Second World War. Her father said, “Either you have to get big or get out.” With no ability to get big it was almost a spin-the-bottle decision between the US, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.
They decided on Australia with Annalisa’s dad coming first. He stayed in the Bonegilla Migrant Centre, which over the course of its life hosted around 300,000 migrants, before his wife arrived a year later with their two small children. It was an incredibly brave thing to do with no family connections – no comprehension of English - only a desire for a better life. They eventually settled in Munro, a tiny township near Sale which they loved, and added three children to their brood, including Annalisa.
Always interested in art, Annalisa would often be found scribbling and doodling away on her siblings’ old notebooks. She studied graphic art at RMIT before getting her first job at the Footscray Mail newspaper. She loved working in newspapers but particularly loved her time working for ACP magazines.
The Internet was of course part of her world and she describes herself as constantly playing in the digital world. Incredibly she has 60,000 photos on her phone. She tells me she is always looking at the world with an artist’s eye.
Sadly, her brother passed away just a couple of years ago from brain cancer. Coupled with the passing of her father not long before, it brought a sense of mortality to Annalisa. “I’ll be pissed off if I pass and I have let my creative skills slide.”
Always interested in art, Annalisa would often be found scribbling and doodling away on her siblings’ old notebooks. She studied graphic art at RMIT before getting her first job at the Footscray Mail newspaper. She loved working in newspapers but particularly loved her time working for ACP magazines.
The Internet was of course part of her world and she describes herself as constantly playing in the digital world. Incredibly she has 60,000 photos on her phone. She tells me she is always looking at the world with an artist’s eye.
Sadly, her brother passed away just a couple of years ago from brain cancer. Coupled with the passing of her father not long before, it brought a sense of mortality to Annalisa. “I’ll be pissed off if I pass and I have let my creative skills slide.”
So, she joined the Goods Shed life drawing group. She has now become a life drawing junkie going three times a fortnight – to both the Goods Shed as well as at Archies Creek with Tyson Butler. She has overcome her “white page phobia” and has vastly improved her hand-eye co-ordination. So much so that she was recognized as Best Emerging Artist at the recent ArtSpace exhibition – Celebration of the Human Form.
She still thinks of these works as sketches on, as she puts it, crappy paper – but she loves it. She has a passion for line.
She learns a lot on YouTube – referring to it as “sucking artists’ brains.” She delights in the fact that artists are so willing to share their techniques to help other artists improve and hone their skills.
She still thinks of these works as sketches on, as she puts it, crappy paper – but she loves it. She has a passion for line.
She learns a lot on YouTube – referring to it as “sucking artists’ brains.” She delights in the fact that artists are so willing to share their techniques to help other artists improve and hone their skills.
Annalisa Christiansen watercolour It was through this that she challenged herself to see what she could be capable of. She has continued painting landscapes – just for the joy of it – never intending that it should be for an exhibition. And then with an “I don’t give a damn” kind of attitude she thought she would see if a gallery would be interested. To her delight Meeniyan Gallery said yes.
Horizons Unfolding is at MAG until December 30. It is held in conjunction with Christmas Creatives showcasing the works of 11 artists and makers, all ready to be purchased for Christmas as well as the work of artist Sarah Medcalf. See you there.
Horizons Unfolding is at MAG until December 30. It is held in conjunction with Christmas Creatives showcasing the works of 11 artists and makers, all ready to be purchased for Christmas as well as the work of artist Sarah Medcalf. See you there.