Artist Spotlight: Christina Spencer

Artist Spotlight: Christina Spencer

We are thrilled to be spotlighting Christina Spencer as our featured Isabella Artist for May. Christina is a true Charlottean which can be quite the anomaly to find these days in the fast growing Queen City. Her fondness of our local landscapes is most apparent and often reflected in her florals which showcase the flora and fauna found here and throughout the region in Spring. We love the playfulness in her use of light and color and the way it creates happy, airy feel to her impressionistic style. So whether you are simply walking by or stopping to truly take in the painting you are sure to be drawn in or pass by with a smile. I assure your halls and homes will be brightened with the addition of any one of Christina’s pieces!

We are honored to share more insight into the creative mind and artwork by Christina Spencer.

Christina in her own words:

Raised and residing in her beloved Charlotte, North Carolina, Christina’s works center on the grounding traditions and landscapes surrounding her southern upbringing and formative background in art and design. Her works build in layers of impressionist brushstrokes to capture her favored subject matters of her native landscape surroundings and floral studies with a focus on rendering the tension of the motion caught in a captured moment in nature. Inspired by everything from the lavender hued clouds speckled above the rolling Blue Ridge mountains to the coral back lit lowcountry sunsets and all of the flora in between, Christina also relishes in painting the intricate details of still life and abstract color and figure studies, to name a few, where her focus draws from more architectural and compositional detail with emphasis on light play. Painting has been a strong passion and pastime since childhood, the framework of which eventually became a calling for Christina to pursue a formal education in art and design. She has since spent over the past decade working in residential interior design honing her skill set and appreciation for storied craftsmanship, rich textural layers, color rendering, textiles, and spatial constitution while maintaining her practice of painting as a treasured pastime and the basis for her design explorations. Her lifelong love and pursuit of art and refined studio foundations reflect in her delicate attention to each of her paintings which are currently a study of watercolors, oils, and mixed media on canvas and paper. Her vocation is to employ the complex interactions of light and color with distinctive motion filled brush strokes or watermarks to create both scenic snapshots and detailed renderings that are timelessly engaging and collected as treasured, hope filled heirlooms.

When not in the studio, Christina can be found with high school sweetheart turned husband, Matt, and beloved dog, Captain, along with her dear family and friends who have always encouraged her to pursue this lifestyle and calling creating art to live in the art of beautiful spaces. For that, she is forever grateful.

We recently had a Q & A session with Christina. We asked her all kinds of questions about life, as well as her art, her passions and a few of her favorite places. Here’s a look inside this creative artist’s mind…

20 or So Questions and Things You Want to Know about Christina Spencer

Q: Where do you live: I was born and raised and still reside in Charlotte, NC!

Q: Do you have pets: A dog- 8 year old Beagle/Terrier Mix named Captain

Q: Favorite song: “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison

Q: Favorite Flower: Queen Anne’s Lace

Q: Current favorite TV show/Movie: Not a huge TV/movie buff but currently watching The Chosen and loving it.

Q: Book you are reading right now: Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman

Q: Describe you style in 3 words: Classic, layered, chameleon…whether in painting, interiors, or clothing I like to stick to the foundations then add lots of my own personal touch, which is always ever evolving.

Q: Favorite Color: I love all kinds of colors but bright, happy, sunshine yellow is my very favorite. You can’t not smile at something yellow and, in that way, it feels special to me.

Q: Color you never get tired of: Any shade of blue, truly. It’s where sky meets water and I don’t know that I could ever get tired of that.

Q: First job: My very first job outside of babysitting was as a lifeguard / pool manager. I did that all through high school and college.

Q: When did you decide to become a full-time professional artist: I have wanted to be a professional artist since I was a kid and first started painting (inspired by Bob Ross who I watched constantly). I knew in my heart it was time to take the leap at a crossroads in my life a few years ago, right before the pandemic when we all had to pivot a little. Big leap, still don’t regret it.

Q: Two things that you love about your job: The flexibility it offers schedule wise in this season of life, meeting other creatives/artist.

Q: Artist on your radar: Marcy Cook Vreeland – her whimsical floral collages are something special, I hope to someday own one.

Q: Favorite Museum: The Met in NYC.

Q: Favorite Food: Depends on my mood – today it’s Pad Thai

Q: Something that is always in your refrigerator: Coffee creamer – coffee is a sacred part of my morning routine I cannot be without it!

Q: Favorite Restaurant around here: The Fig Tree is a special one to me – I like to commemorate special milestones there.

Q: Dream Dinner Guest: Steven Tyler – If you know me, you know

Q: What do you bring with you everywhere you go: My dog, Captain comes with me most of the time. I also always have a very large purse full of things I may or may not ever need but feel the need to have.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go: Paris, France with my mom.

Q: Favorite place you have traveled: Favorite places are made because of favorite people. I went on a special trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA with my mom and sisters and it will always be a top favorite place for that reason and those memories.

Q: Favorite interior design style, midcentury modern, traditional, art deco, etc: Neotraditional – I love the classics with a fresh and modern perspective.

Q: Three favorite things in your home: A simple glass candy dish that was my Meme’s – she always had candy in it for my sisters and I growing up, the antique oil painting of a ship that started an entire gallery wall collection of paintings found with my husband, a vintage alabaster lamp – the first piece I ever bought for my house with my first post college job….I like accessories that have stories.

Q: Favorite place to score finds for your home: Sleepy Poet


Q: What would people be surprised to learn about you: I can be an extrovert when needed but I am truly an introvert at heart.

To learn more about Christina visit Christina Spencer Studio or Follow Christina on Instagram @chistinaspencerstudio to learn more about her work and current projects.

Pop into Isabella, shop us online at isabellastyle.com or follow us on Instagram @isabellastylenc to check out Christina’s latest pieces!


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