Christie Close is a painter and sculptor residing at her studio showroom in downtown Mill Valley. She has a fine arts education, a background in Zen practice, travel, writing poetry and short stories, environmental activism, and work with women and children. She is a Bay Area Postpartum Doula working with newborns and new parents.
Her early and major influences are from Japanese and Russian teachers and artists active in Europe and America from 1910 to 1960. Christie is educated in the classic arts of drawing, composition, color theory, sculptural form, and design. This artist has found her unique and original voice, developing her style. There is a palpable presence and meaning that comes through in her work. Many personal experiences and breakthroughs are visible in the works she calls The Water Series, The Earth Series, and The Victress Series. The name Victress Arts is a statement about personal triumph over limitations and a prayer for our water, air, and earth to recover from many challenges. Her approach is influenced by early nature-focused life in the California High Sierras, scuba diving in many tropical locations, and living in the Sangre Di Cristo Mountains near Taos New Mexico.