My Story

I am Chrystina Bowers

I was born in Santa Rosa, California and I’ve lived in Utah and Texas. Now, I live in Oregon where I attend Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. During my time here I have been awarded the AB McGuire Trust Scholarship, Oregon Opportunity Grant and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant and I have been placed on the Dean’s Honor Roll for six consecutive terms. Something I am very proud of.

I use abstract and realistic inspirations represented in several different media, including graphite, charcoal, pastel, acrylic, watercolor, Conté crayons, and ceramic in my work. I enjoy visiting sites to experience subjects firsthand and I draw from life and my own photographs.

I submitted works selected for display in Umpqua Community College’s Student Juried Show in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as well as work exhibited in the Umpqua Community College Mezzanine in the UCC Art Department in 2015. My work is also featured in several private collections. I am currently focused on my personal development as an artist in my own practice, as I move towards my college graduation in December 2020. After that, I plan on transferring to a four-year university to pursue a BA in Fine Arts.

Sharing this journey, and without whom none of this would be possible, is my wonderful husband and our three beautiful, young daughters. Sometime in the future, I plan on traveling to further my journey in the Arts.

Dare to Dream

The strongest influences in my journey so far have been my instructors from college, Renee Couture, Gregory Price, Ted Isto, and Susan Rochester. I am inspired by modern United Kingdom artist, Louise McNaught and her incredible use of color in her pieces on wildlife, and her campaign on awareness of endangered species featured in her work. I obsess over elephants for their grace and majesty, I am fascinated by the symbolism in unyielding trains, I am haunted by lighthouses for their purpose of guidance. I yearn to create series on each of these subjects, delving deeper into the endangered wildlife domain, and fantasize about an under-the-sea series in the far-off future.

Some of My Work

Artwork