Chris Lange began painting at an early age. Her first formal art lesson was at 5 years old, when she studied with a local San Diego County landscape artist. She entered her first watercolor in the Del Mar Fair Children’s exhibit and won Honorable Mention. At age 10, she entered a summer community art class and won 1st place for her watercolor landscape.
In High School, she took art every summer and concentrated on ceramic figurines and heads. She continued on to College where she studied Fine Arts, in the School of Education at San Diego State University. She graduated, and 1 ½ years later, began her more than 35 year career in Commercial Banking. While she continued to paint and create ink drawings, her art was recreational and was soon replaced with other activities including skiing, and later, horseback riding.
She has visited almost all of the National Parks and National Monuments from the Rocky Mountains west. Her travels began at age 5, and she has rarely missed a summer vacation since. Her most recent adventures have taken her to Ireland, where she fell in love with the Irish countryside. This gave her the inspiration to draw her castles. Additionally, she honed her riding skills to be able to ride with her local riding group while in Ireland. This led to the import of three Irish Sport Horses for her family to ride.
In 2007, a series of tragic events, including the loss of her daughter’s Irish jumper horse, prompted her to begin painting again. Her first works were of Laguna Beach and Irish Hunt Scenes painted on wooden boxes. She connected with artists and art dealers in the industry, who encouraged her to paint on canvas, which she began doing in early 2008.
She continues to paint landscapes on wooden boxes by request. Prices are based on the complexity of pictures on the box and the box size.