Artist Statement
When I was 28, I experienced the quintessential artist’s dream job: working alone on a 120 foot fire lookout tower on Johnny George Mountain in eastern Washington. My duties included watching for the inevitable fires caused by lightning strikes onto a tinder dry forest. That unique experience deepened my spirituality that is the essence of my artworks. My view was a hundred miles in all directions and I tuned into the forces of nature above a grand and expansive landscape. While watching the forest and sky, I was also practicing meditation, or writing, or making art. An artist-observer, I enjoyed the moments fully along with spectacular changes in light, cloud formations and weather. On the lookout I got in touch with the elements of nature that continue to influence my artist’s vision and life’s creative work. It is from that vantage point, my inner mountain top, I create enigmatic landscapes in photography and luminous otherworldly paintings.
[above] Portrait of Christine Eagon by Jody Miller
Bio
Christine Eagon is a second generation Oregonian. Born in Hillsboro, Oregon, she studied painting and photography at Portland State University, Oregon College of Art and Craft and graphic design at Clark College. In 2008, following decades as a successful photographer, Christine returned to painting through a self-designed three week painter’s retreat in Glastonbury, England. The outcome: blissful adventure and inspiration to proceed with painting. Christine’s work involves an accumulation of imagery from years of nature walks, beach combing, sky and bird watching – mostly between Rockaway Beach and Astoria. Now a resident of Astoria, OR, Christine continues to take inspiration from the Oregon Coast.