Christine Paschal has been involved in the field of art as early as she can remember, whether it is painting and painting when she is young, or the design of beadwork, sculpture and jewellery that she explored as an adult. After retiring twelve years ago, many of her interests merged, when she started her second career as a versatile mixed media artist.
Today, Guerneville residents and psychiatric technicians at the former Sonoma Development Center have discovered jewellery and handicrafts inspired by nature that can find joy and relaxation. The ocean theme is a favorite theme, plus birds, whimsical garden fairies, and even fantasy wizards appear in her works. She is also known for the elaborate 3D hummingbirds made from tiny seed beads.
While appreciating the artwork, she quickly shared her interests instead of pursuing it full-time. She said: “I didn’t do this to make a living.” “I keep my arts and crafts alive. Really, I do this because I am happy. This is just to be happy to do this. The rest. The icing on the cake. When someone likes it, it’s so cool.”
She took face-to-face art classes and learned skills from books, online tutorials, and handcrafts made on TV in the 1990s. “I am mainly self-taught, but I will get inspiration and knowledge through classes,” Paschal, 56, is a three-year-old mother, six-year-old grandmother and former Girl Scout leader, she shared with 17 members Her artistic talent.
She exhibited her work at the Artisans Cooperative Gallery in Bodega, and at the handicraft fairs and festivals in Western County (including the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Day) on the epidemic days before the coronavirus outbreak. Paschal served as the president of the cooperative, showing everything from fiber art and photography to pottery and paintings created by more than 50 selected Sonoma County craftsmen.
“There are various styles of art. She said: “When people walk into our restaurant and see the variety we have, they are really surprised. ”
Her artworks with the theme of marine life are very popular with tourists and locals. She uses fine sand dollars instead of paper or canvas for the sunset and landscape watercolors of the Sonoma Coast. She also uses sea urchins in jewelry design and craftsmanship, reusing bleached, disc-shaped exoskeletons for artwork. A dime-sized sand dollar is hung on the earrings, and the larger sand dollar is decorated with seed beads to become a pendant necklace.
“The biggest compliment is when someone comes to buy more things,” Paschal said. “These things really upset me and make me very happy about what I have done.”
Her sand dollar earrings are usually sold for 18 to 25 dollars, usually with sterling silver wire rings, usually with pearls or crystals. They reflect Paschal’s love for the ocean, very close to her home. She said: “I am always attracted to the beach.”
She admired the natural beauty of sand dollars, which were decorated with five-pointed stars or petals. She occasionally found one while combing. She said: “Every once in a while, I will find a live one, you have to throw it in and save it, hope they are okay.”
The products she designed were ordered from an online supply company, and the sand dollars were mainly from the Florida coast.
Although she had never encountered a large sand dollar on the coast of California, Canadian tourists who participated in the cooperative admired her artwork and gave Paschal two pieces that they found on a stone island off the coast of Mazatlan, Mexico. A huge amount of sand money can be measured by every piece of sand money. Approximately 5 or 6 inches in diameter. “I didn’t know they could be so big,” Pashal said. When she drove home from the gallery, she broke down alone. “I’m ruined.” She used another in the monitor. Both sides of it are sealed with the transparent protective coating she applies to all sandbags.
Her works also feature other sea urchins, sea glass, driftwood and shells (including abalone). She uses colorful polymer clay to sculpt the small charms of dolphins, sea turtles, crabs, flip-flops, etc., and decorates her handmade souvenir boxes, jewelry, magnets, Christmas decorations and other crafts with marine themes.
She painted her design on wood and cut it with a rolling saw, thus turning the old redwood fragments into the outlines of a mermaid, a seahorse and an anchor. She hung the shells in the design to make wind chimes.
She said: “I don’t know that I have insufficient attention, but I easily get bored.” She moved from one medium to another, one day as a carpenter, another day as a beading or painting. Making her beaded hummingbird pendants and earrings requires special attention, a process Paschal calls “meditation.” Last summer, when she was evacuated during the Walbridge wildfire that threatened Guerneville, she stayed at the Rohnert Park Motel for 10 days, packing up the beads and keeping hummingbirds.
It took her 38 hours to make a 3-inch hummingbird for the first time. Now, with skilled technology and experience, she can work on average about 10 hours. Her design uses “one of the smallest beads you can buy” and mimics hummingbirds found in nature, such as Anna’s hummingbirds. “This is a lot of what we have here,” she said. She studied their marks from a booklet produced by Steward of the Coast and Redwoods based in Guerneville, a non-profit organization she volunteered in her hometown (she was born in Guerneville).
Paschal also paid tribute to the wine industry in the region, using beads made of grape clusters to make earrings and wine accessories. During the pandemic toilet paper hobby days, she found herself very humorous and even made earrings decorated with beaded toilet paper rolls.
She is now satisfied with her own pace, updated her display in the cooperative, and has enough stock to finally return to handicraft fairs and festivals. She said: “I don’t want to work myself.” “I want to have fun.”
In addition, she discovered the therapeutic benefits of art. She suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but feels relieved when she pursues her own artwork.
She said: “My art is an important part of keeping me focused and preventing my symptoms.” “That’s why art is important to my life.”
For more information, please visit artisansco-op.com/christine-paschal, facebook.com/californiasanddollars or sonomacoastart.com/christine-pashal. Or check out Christine Paschal’s artwork in the Artisans Cooperative Gallery at 17175 Bodega Highway in Bodega. The time is from 11 am to 5 pm from Thursday to Monday.