I first met Chris Marin a number of years ago, after reading an article in our local newspaper describing her technique of pour painting. I was immediately fascinated, and called her to ask if she was giving lessons. Fortunately for me, she said yes.

The time I spent as Chris’s student was truly memorable, and I thank her every day in my heart if not in person for her kindness, patience and joyful enthusiasm as she passed on her knowledge and skills to me. I will always treasure the hours spent learning from this wonderful teacher who has now become my friend.

I have also been fortunate enough to purchase the painting which called my name from the moment I saw it in Chris’s studio. “The Unicorn”, which now hangs at the foot of my bed, is the first image I see when I wake and the last before I fall asleep. I would try to describe it, but no words can capture the image of this mystical creature and the waves of colour that surround it.

Some people say that pour painting is not difficult: you just have to scatter random amounts of your medium over a blank background, and wait as they bleed and blend and dry. Chris is the perfect example of the fallacy of this statement. The true magic is in the artist’s vision of what appears to her in the colours, the intuitive connection with the shapes and shades that she then highlights and manipulates, which ultimately result in a work of art. As Betty Edwards wrote in her groundbreaking book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, “Seeing is the problem, or, to be more specific, shifting to a particular way of seeing.” Chris truly has the gift of seeing, as only those with an appreciation of true art can recognize.

I met Chris in 1995. I believe that whatever or whomever we need in our lives will come to us – often through serendipitous encounters. This is how I remember my first meeting with Chris over 20 years ago. Chris placed posters in local area health and wellness clinics in my area offering intuitive watercolour painting lessons. I signed up for her lessons. I was not disappointed. My journey with Chris and her work began at that time. It has been an amazing personal and artistic journey for me to be inspired by her work since that time.

Chris is an incredible artist and a supportive mentor in all things creative. She “sees” things that are not always visible to others. This is the core of her work. She has incredible knowledge. skill, and talent. She is devoted to her craft. She is an artistic perfectionist.

I purchased my first intuitive watercolour piece from Chris in or about 2004. The piece Interwoven in Time has always provided personal meaning to me because it continues to inspire me about the reality of our connectedness to all life on Earth. I am now proud to own four subsequent pieces created by Chris. They hang beautifully and inspirationally in my place and space.

Artists grow, change and move forward with their work using their talents, imagination, new techniques and new perspectives. Chris is always moving forward, and always “seeing” and producing art that is inspirational – not only to herself as an artist, but to those of us who love art and the artists whose works create meaning for our souls.