Monica Study #2 (The Equestrian)

Christiane Bouret is a painter that works with oil paint to create figurative artworks and portraits. Christiane did not have formal artistic training but was inspired by her father who dabbled in painting. Self-taught until 2005, she met landscape artist Nina Weiss and took several workshops with her over the next ten years. In 2010, she met Linda Kollack, a local portrait artist, and took several workshops over the next seven years. She has been influenced by works from contemporary artists such as Susan Lyon, Scott Burdick, Richard Schmid, Daniel Gerhartz, David Leffel, and others. She admires painters such as John Singer Sargent, Sorolla, Bouguereau, LeBrun, Rembrandt, Cassat, and Morisot. She states: "I am drawn to a person's expression, and try to capture their personality, a moment in life." Her commissioned portraits of people and pets have been done from photographs. Occasionally, she will paint from a live model; she believes that painting live results in a better painting.