ARTIST STATEMENT

I am fascinated by the artistic pursuit of Illumination. It is a hopeful quest, and it has pushed my creative frontiers.

Art has taken me many places. I have painted on the top of Huayna Picchu, on beaches of Hawaii, by canals in France, on ledges in Japan with snow monkeys, and with marine iguanas in the Galapagos. 

Nature calls me, and most especially in Santa Fe, my home over the last 30 years. It’s about nature and the special light that tells its stories.

My experience continuously refreshes my understandings and expressions of essential forms. This, in turn, supports what enlivens me: Luminescence and its magical effects on the land and the water.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Artist-in-Residency, Chateau d’Orquevaux, France
Juror and Curator, Historic Santa Fe Watercolor Exhibition, Historic Santa Fe Foundation
Watercolor Instructor, Valdes Art Studios, Santa Fe, NM
Map Designer, The Lion’s Gate by Steven Pressfield, The Penguin Group
Watercolor Instructor at El Castillo Retirement Residences, Santa Fe
Personal Expression through Watercolor Instructor, Santa Fe Community College
Watercolor Workshop Instructor, Vaison-la-Romaine, Provence, France
Monotype Workshop Instructor, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Kamuela, HI
Book Cover Artist, Harrmun’s Hurrah and Harrmun’s Way, and The Irish Brahmin
Featured Artist, Santa Fe Names & Numbers phone book
Featured Artist, Koi/USA
Featured Artist, Santa Fean Magazine
Featured Artist, The New Mexican Pasatiempo
Featured Artist, A Parisian Soirée, Desert Academy Benefit
Signature Member of New Mexico Watercolor Society
Partner in Education PIE Grant recipient
Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of Taos Fellowship/Artist-in-Residency

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts, French & Art, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff
Premier & Deuxième degrés, French, l’Université de Grenoble, France
International Master of Business Administration,
Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, AZ

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Christy Henspetter is an accomplished artist and art teacher for over 25 years, hosting painting workshops in Santa Fe, Hawaii and France.

Nature, Water and France are recurrent themes in her artwork.

She was awarded a prestigious Helen Wurlitzer Fellowship as well as the Santa Fe Partners in Education Grant for her mastery of watercolor and oil painting and is a Signature member of the New Mexico Watercolor Society. In 2018 she was awarded an artist residency at the Château Orquevaux, east of Paris. As a result of her expertise, she has been called upon to jury and curate a host of exhibitions.

Henspetter is currently represented by the Gallery of Great Things in Hawaii and Convergence Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but has shown work in galleries and museums across the country. Christy's inspired works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions, have been featured on book covers, in books and magazines and can be found in collections around the globe. Her passion for painting—seeking the to express the crystallization of light with a uniqueness of color—is evident in her diverse body of work. 

RESUME

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Quo Vadis Exhibition, Van Der Plas Gallery New York, NY 2020 Between Life and the Dream, Solo Show, Convergence Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2018 A Journey, Solo Show, Convergence, Santa Fe, NM 2016
Waters over Earth, Solo Show, Convergence Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2014
Artistic Escapes, New Mexico Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 2013
luminosity, Solo Show, Convergence Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2012
Santa Fe Artists Emergency Fund Invitational, Riva Yares Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2010
Signature Members Exhibition of New Mexico Watercolor Society, Expo New Mexico, Albuquerque 2009
Beyond Expectations and Passages Convergence Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
At Water’s Edge, Pu’uOpelu Gallery at Parker Ranch, Kamuela, HIThe Way I See I, Solo Show, Merriman’s Kamuela, HI
An Evening in Provence, Merrimans, Kamuela, HI
Pacific, Solo Show, Merrimans, Kamuela, HI
Contemporary Still Life Invitational, Wiford-Vogt Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
MasterWorks of New Mexico, Spring Art Show, Albuquerque, NM
Texas and Neighbors Regional Art Competition, Irving Art Association of Texas, Irving, TX
Paradise, La Galeria Arriba, Abiquiu, NM
Southwest Summer, Solo Show, Santa Fe Jet Center, Santa Fe, NM
10th Annual Geijutsu Sai Art Festival, Japanese Garden Society of Oregon, Portland, OR
WaterMedia 2001, Branigan Fine Arts Museum, Las Cruces, NM
New Mexico Watercolor Society Signature Members Show, Palace of the Governors Museum, Santa Fe, NM
Recent Work, Roy’s of Hawaii, Waikoloa, HI
Red Hot, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM
A Show with Heart, Joyce Robins Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Fish and Flowers, Gallery of Great Things, Kamuela, HI
Portals & Patios, ACT I Gallery, Taos, NM
Old Mexico/New Mexico, Solo Show, Matsumoto Gallery, Sanibel Island, FL
Biennial Arts Exhibition, Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos, NM
Artists Benefit & Auction, The Munson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Primavera Painting Exhibition, NMWS, Albuquerque, NM
Qué Pasa? Art in New Mexico, Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos, NM
Monothon 8, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Animals of the Galapagos, Solo Show, Tybie Satin Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

REPRESENTATION

Convergence Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Gallery of Great Things, Kamuela, HI
Mona Youssef Fine Arts, Kingston, Ont., Canada
Interiors by Claire West, Los Angeles, CA