Christine Graf
Creating art is an act of intimacy, hands making things that involve a healing touch for the artist. For me it is also steeped in joy. And being present. As a life long artist in both commercial design and fine art, I work in multiple styles in both collage and assemblages using color, pattern, and dimensionality in mixed media. I use encaustic (hot wax), box art, fabric, embroidery, paint, brulage (burning), and found objects to create dimension and texture. Some of these techniques result in sculptural wall art and assemblages.
Through this experimentation I express the broad scope of my art personality.
With each approach I hope to capture the heart of the matter and to make a connection in myself and with the viewer.
All of the art in Christine’s Blue Moon Collection is available for purchase.
Send inquiries to kendra@thebluemoongallery.com or text 224-388-7948
Homage to the Lost & Loved
Art heals. To make a work of art during a trying time is a curative, a means of expressing the ineffable. In 2020 we experienced many great losses of friends, family, colleagues from the pandemic. And since then losses from Uvalde to Ukraine. We heard so many stories that broke our hearts. In that moment of loss, as an artist, the urge is to create, to make whole that which feels broken. Generating an artwork is a means of asserting life, a devotion to one’s humanity. All as a means to mend, to restore.
This group of art is an homage to those lost and loved. It was conceived not only as a response to the pandemic but to all the losses we have faced. In these artworks I use vintage book pages, hand made rubber stamps, paint and markers that make a scrim-like effect showing layers, as if each layer is a chapter in a life.
“My reply to the brokenness is and continues to be a form of healing, of bringing light to dark corners, and offering empathy as an antidote to suffering. These artworks represent that purpose. It is my hope they bring comfort and love.”
For the Loss of a Loved One (1) 8x8x1 $165
For the Loss of a Loved One (3) 8x8x1 $165
For the Loss of a Loved One (4) 8x8x1 $165
For the Loss of a Loved One (5) 8x8x1 $165
For the Loss of a Loved One (6) 8x8x1 $165
The Library Series
Made from book covers and portions of vintage books, rust elements, and decorative end papers.
Beautiful gifts for book lovers, editors, writers, readers, book collectors, library staff or those who love ephemera.
“When I was eight years old my brother joined the Air Force and my dad converted his bedroom into a library. My dad was a collector and books were his love. He’d find them on street curbs or buy them for 50 cents a box at the Salvation Army store. My dad never finished high school and having a library in his home was a way of educating himself. As a young girl I’d seek refuge in that room with the great leather books with gold lettering. A dictionary with onion skin paper had the wing span of a great bird when opened on the iron stand in the corner. Books about philosophy, religion, the arts, filled the shelves. This was a dream space for me.”
“The library series honors the memory of my father, the importance of books, and the freedom books offer to our lives and imagination.”
Objects that Inspire
“I use vintage book covers with an earthy patina. Notice the rocks that offer their careworn surface as inspiration which I also use to weigh down when gluing. In the top left corner, something soft, silk mixed with brass elements, and rust objects for high contrast. In the center are William Morris papers that add an elegant touch. I love to spread out the things that inspire me and put them together until they feel just right. Each artwork is like creating a new recipe with similar ingredients. It is important for my art to have opposite elements; hard and soft, round and square, and lots of high touch and texture. All to stimulate the senses and remind us of our humanity.”
German Song Mini Book 1900's -- 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
Dewey Decimal System 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
McGuffey's Third Reader 1900's --- 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
Indiana School Reader 1920 -- 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
The Principles of Art Compostion 11.5 x 7.5 x 1 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $325
Small Book Collection 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
Tales of the Highlanders 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
Vintage School Reader 1905 -- 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
Letters from the Great Thinkers 8 x 8 x 1.5 $Collage on Wood Cradle Board 265
Unloclking the Doors to Learning 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
The Book of Absolutes 8 x 8 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $265
Library of Poetry and Song 10 x 10 x 1.5 Collage on Wood Cradle Board $325
Totem Series
art that represents our hopes for the future
This group of works focuses on a multiplicity of mixed media: canvas, nets, thread, sewing, burning, and incorporating rusted objects as talismans. Using materials with history that have been changed by the effects of time imbues the artwork with an emotional component that gives it power.
“During the pandemic and since, I have felt the need to create art that reflects what is missing in our culture and its set of challenges. Using the concept of the totem, I want to bring to life what is needed in our changing world and provide symbols to aspire to. I believe it is an honor to make art that represents our hopes for the future.”
NEW: Totem for Higher Power 12 x 6 x 3/4 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $350
NEW: Totem for Romantic Love 12 x 6 x 3/4 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $350
NEW: Totem for Global Harmony 12 x 9 x 3/4 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $400
NEW: Totem for Energy 12 x 6 x 3/4 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $350
NEW: Totem for Strength 12 x 6 x 3/4 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $350
Totem Series: The Heart of the Matter 8x8x1 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $300
Totem Series: Riding the Wave 12x6x1.5 FIbert Art/Mixed Media Collage $350
Totem Series: Where the Heart Is 12x9x1 FIber Art/Mixed Media Collage $450
Totem Series: The Go Between 12x6x1 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $325
Totem Series: The Link Between a Man and Woman 12x6x1 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $325
Totem Series: Replanting the Lost Forests 8x8 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $300
Totem Series: Totem for Earth Love 9x12x1.5 Fiber Art/Mixed Media Collage $450
Totem Series: Magic Talismans 12x6x1.5 Fibert Art/Mixed Media Collage $400
All of Christine's collages are mounted to cradled wood panels, wired, and ready for hanging.
Side View of a Totem Collage on a Wood Panel by Christine Graf
Totem Wood Panel -- Plain
Side View of Totem Collage on Wood Panel by Christine Graf
Christine Graf
Tropical Sea Blues 12 x 9 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel $300
Sunflowers - Tribute to Ukraine 12 x 12 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel $250
Bed of Roses 9 x 12 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel $300
Think Pink 12x9x7/8 -- Deconstructed Box / Collage on Wood Panel SPECIAL PRICE $250
It's Easy Being Green 12 x 12 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel $350
Balance in Black and White 10x10 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel SPECIAL PRICE $225
Red Memories 8x8 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel SPECIAL PRICE $175
Dusk and Dawn 10x10 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel SPECIAL PRICE $225
Sunflower Mandala 12x12 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel SPECIAL PRICE $250
Joy Ride 10x10 Deconstructed Box/Collage on Wood Panel SPECIAL PRICE: $225
Deconstructed Box Collages (above)
To create my deconstructed box collages (shown above), I begin first with an opened up box, such as a Dove soap box or an aspirin box, to use as a template. I then start to play with creative variations. I use my skills as a surface pattern designer plus papers and patterns I’ve created from my hand-carved stamps. These pieces have a whimsical, playful quality simply by using an ordinary object. Their stylish color combinations make them a perfect fit for any décor.