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“I have used a voyage on a river as a metaphor for the journey of life in many of my paintings,” says James C. Christensen on Passage by Faith. “Sometimes we travel alone, sometimes with friends and family, and often with a mixed group of strangers, human and not so. But the journey is inevitable, and our task is to make the best of the ever-changing voyage. We don’t always control the river, but we often have choices that determine what will happen next on our odyssey.
“The man in the boat is one I call the Everyman. His hump identifies him as an imperfect being, a symbol of human imperfections. Some are physical, others are of personality or character, but none of us is perfect. The world is crumbling a bit around our Everyman in his boat but he doesn’t stop moving forward or become distracted by things that might pull him off course. The fish—the symbol of wisdom and magic—follows behind him whispering encouragement, and the candle in front of him represents his faith that lights his way. Will he avoid rough waters and the certain challenges of life’s journey? I think he is prepared to make good choices and has the faith to know he will be guided through the difficulties to come. For the moment, he rows.”
Some of Christensen’s most popular works are the ones inspired by his beliefs and Passage by Faith is the title for and the cover art of a new book published by Deseret Books. This collection explores the spiritual and scriptural connections found in Christensen’s work. The Greenwich Workshop has created both canvas and paper Fine Art Editions Passage by Faith, either the perfect choice to bring some inspiration for the soul to any wall in the room.
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Inspired by the world’s myths, fables and tales of imagination, James C.
Christensen’s work adds up to more than a beautiful - if sometimes “curious”
looking work of art. Having taught art professionally for over 20 years, he
thought of the world as his classroom. His hope is that through whatever he
creates -- be it a porcelain, fine art print or book -- he can convey a message,
inspiration or a simple laugh. He believes that teaching people to use their
imagination helps us find solutions to sooth the stresses of everyday life-or
get a little lift to help us keep going. In short: all things are possible when
you share Christensen’s philosophy that “Believing is Seeing.”
Christensen was born in 1942 and raised in Culver City, California. He studied
painting at Brigham Young University and, for a while, the University of
California at Los Angeles before finishing his formal education at BYU. Since
then, he has had one-man shows in the West and the Northeast and his work is
prized in collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Christensen has also won all the professional art honors the World Science
Fiction and Fantasy Convention can bestow, as well as multiple Chesley Awards
from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. Christensen has
been designated as a “Utah Art Treasure,” one of Utah’s Top 100 Artists by the
Springville Museum of Art and received the Governor’s Award for Art awarded by
the Utah Arts Council recognizing the significance of Christensen’s artwork to
Utah’s cultural communities. He was inducted into the U.S. Art magazine’s Hall
of Fame and is an Honored Alumnus at Brigham Young University for his
contributions to fine art and education. James and his wife Carole were co-
chairs on the Mormon Arts Foundation. He was a frequent guest lecturer at
Brigham Young University, and has also given workshops to large companies and
organizations on the subject of creative thinking, including the California Art
Educator’s Association, Hallmark and Intermountain Health Care.
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