"A dream is a gift of vision -- I paint my dreams to give back to the world what has come through me as a way of seeing... and a way of loving."
Christina Sol is an artist in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, whose astonishing paintings convey the color and exoticism of Mexico through the prism of her dreams and spiritual visions. Their richness derive from both her originality and the choice of her materials –– brilliant hues on tin.
A self-taught artist, Christina Sol was born in San Francisco and has been blessed with living in beautiful places all her life -- Pacific Heights in San Francisco, the architecturally acclaimed Sea Ranch on the Northern California Coast, the famous St. Helena in the heart of the Napa Valley, Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Morelos, and now San Miguel de Allende.
When Christina Rothlin was looking for the right name for the lines of clothing she designed and produced in Mexico City, she chose the Spanish word for sun -- Sol. She wanted an identity that suggested strength, integrity, warmth, and light. Her high and natural cotton clothing became known as 'Christina Sol.' She has used the name Christina personally and professionally for twenty years.
In 1990, the urge to paint became so strong that she left the clothes business to paint. Color is the moving force in her life. Color is the heart of her joyful work. Christina's move to San Miguel de Allende in 1999 produced tremendous changes in her art. She developed the idea from an error of using tin as her painting canvas. The designs and shapes of her tin creations continue to change and her foundation with the tin as a medium continues to grow.
In 2001, she met a mentor and dream teacher. The dream images and spiritual experiences that find their way into her paintings are inspired by her natural surroundings. Currently living on the edge of the semi-desert near her favorite park in a house she designed and built herself, Christina acknowledges the powerful influence of nature on her work.
Each piece of art expresses an inner dream message and image, expresses her emotions through color. The sense of wholeness and joy that comes through the dream images are Christina's goal in art. Like her name, Christina Sol's work is as warm and dramatic and as life-giving as the sun itself.
