As one who spends a great deal of time with her nose in books, Christa Briana‘s artwork has always held me spellbound. Each new piece I see makes me feel as though I’m looking through a portal into a fairy tale.
In my interview/coffee date with Christa, I asked her about the fantasy feel of the every-day images she illustrates. What I learned is that each new piece she creates is actually tap-dancing across the boundaries of reality.
Take for example, today’s piece, “Forgotten Garden“.
On an adventure to Lake Watauga back in 2016, Christa Briana made a wrong turn and stumbled across a neglected greenhouse. She snapped a few photos and started drawing the image. After a bit, however, she put the drawings down and forgot about the little ramshackle treasure. A year or so passed, and Christa stumbled across the image again. This time, she felt moved to finish it.
“Forgotten Garden” is a quintessential Briana classic. The little incarcerated Eden seems so charming at first, yet grows haunting and dark as it settles on the mind. On the surface, it’s just a terrarium. Looking deeper, it becomes a closed case of wild creatures, locked up and left to neglect. Perhaps it’s a message to free ourselves, to shirk our casings and unleash our full potential, to prune and tend the garden of our own creativity and love, lest it be left to grow unchecked while trapped within us.
Perhaps, what’s most fascinating about this piece is what it now means to Christa Briana. The truth is, the artist can’t really get too worked up about this painting. “I’m always surprised by which pieces people gravitate towards, as they’re mostly the illustrations I care least about.” I find it curious that she could have once felt so driven to produce a piece that now doesn’t illicit much of an attachment in her, but does so in a lot of other people. It seems art is a an act of service, one the universe demands even if it doesn’t always make sense to us.
Hope you’re enjoying the art series so far! We’ve got a couple more pieces we’ll be leaking to you over the next couple weeks. In the meantime, follow the links to check out the other wonderful pieces in Christa’s shop. Thanks for helping us to support our local artists!