@leechristmashalsteadart | leehalstead.com

Lee Christmas Halstead loves to paint, to play with the unspoken elements of the visual experience. She finds pleasure in painting outdoors from direct observation. And she enjoys taking those paintings and studies into the studio for further exploration. In essence, she engages in a visual call and response between nature and herself, a sensing affair, when creating her paintings. Lee uses the language of art to express the perceived order, harmonies, relationships and unity found in nature.

Lee has lived in Charlottesville, VA for most of her life. She is mainly a self-taught painter and continually discovers by following her curiosity. She delights in the practice of presence that the process of painting offers. Lee loves the outdoors; spending time gardening, hiking, swimming, sailing, pondering and painting en plein air.

Lee uses a limited palette and finds this simplification of color contributes to the harmony and unity she seeks in her paintings. Color shapes are abstracted to further give voice to her expression. Currently Lee is experimenting with abstraction in her works to reveal the more ephemeral, energetic attributes of nature she wishes to express.