Nature has long been the subject of Christine Neill’s large mixed-media paintings and prints. She combines the immediacy of watercolor with contemporary digital processes to interpret the ephemeral states of the natural world. Using myth, metaphor and biological idiosyncrasies, she notes intersections where the natural and human worlds meet.

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Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Blue Carbon, 2019, Watercolor, archival ink jet print on laser cut Arches paper, 30 x 45 inches

Carbon captured in the Earth's oceans and coastal ecosystems, is referred to as Blue Carbon. Salt marshes, tidal bodies, the slough of the Everglades, for example, provide a natural way of reducing the impact of greenhouse gases.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Disappearing Cavendish, 2017, watercolor and archival ink print on paper with Plexiglas, 31 x 44 1/2 inches

Cultivated bananas worldwide are in imminent danger of completely disappearing, damaged by fungal diseases. 500 million people, particularly in developing countries, depend on the fruit as a staple food. The global supply is threatened because industry growers have planted just one species, the Cavendish, across continents. The print on Plexi is a line drawing of a healthy banana and it’s inflorescence.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Greenbrae Duff, 2019, Watercolor, archival pigment print on paper and Plexiglass, 41.5 x 32.5 inches

Duff – the decaying matter covering forest floors-- stores as much carbon at ground level as the trees do overhead. Duff plays a significant role in combating dangerous increases of carbon in the atmosphere, which results from climate change.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Mangrove Forest, 2017,Watercolor, archival ink jet print on paper & framing Plexiglas, 31 x 44.75 inches

Mangroves absorb massive amounts of nutrients, thereby improving water purity and
providing crucial assistance to both land and water animals & plants. The mangrove groves protect coast lines from storm erosion. The print on the Plexi
appears at the bottom half of the painting as topographic lines from coastal nautical charts.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Sido’s Cactus, 2019, Watercolor, archival pigment print on paper and Plexiglas, 26.75 x 40 inches

The author Collette wrote a story about her mother, Sido’s, epiphyllum which is a short-lived, night blooming cactus. Her story reminds us of life’s ephemeral nature and the precious choices we are often forced to make.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Reef, 2017,Watercolor, archival ink jet print on paper & framing Plexiglas, 29 x 44 inches

The survival of many undersea creatures depends on the steady ebb and flow of ocean
tides. Rising sea levels threaten the protective costal reefs and species that live in the intertidal zone. The shapes of underwater animals and plants are reminiscent of shoals during tidal changes. The print on the Plexiglas is of topographic lines from coastal nautical charts.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
White Death, 2019, Watercolor, archival ink jet print on Arches paper and framing Plexiglas, 34 x 47.75 inches

White death syndrome is decimating coral reefs worldwide. Coral colonies coexist with an algae which nourish the coral. Pollution and warming sea temperatures are killing the algae, thus starving the corals. Dead reefs, devoid of the life giving algae, turn a stark white. The Plexi print depicts microscopic zooxanthellae leaving the colonies dissipating as they rise.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Holey Leaves, Vert, 2018, Watercolor on laser cut paper, 18 x 32 inches

Invasive insects, and slugs chew holes in the leaves of mature plants, weakening or killing them. The holes in the leaves were laser cut, The images painted after the cutting.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Death by Fig, 2019, Watercolor on paper and Plexiglas, 36.25 x 23 inches

The Strangler Fig invades healthy hosts by casting seeds from the height of its branches which grow downward toward roots and trunks. After several years the encased host will die because it is deprived of the ability to turn sunlight into nutrients.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Holey Leaves, Violet, 2018, Watercolor on laser cut paper, 18 x 32 inches

Invasive insects and slugs chew holes in the leaves of mature plants, weakening or killing them. The holes in the leaves were laser cut. The holes in the leaves were laser cut, The images painted after the cutting.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Strangler Fig, 2019, Watercolor and archival ink jet print on laser cut paper, 39 x 28.5 inches

Because of the density of foliage blocking rain and light the floor of a rainforest can be a difficult place for seedlings to grow. Ficus aurea, The Strangler Fig, invades healthy host by casting seeds from the height of their branches. Roots and limbs grow downward in unlikely patterns. After several years the encased tree dies, deprived of their means of turning sunlight into nutrients.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Monstera Morphology, 2017, Watercolor and archival ink print on paper with Plexiglas, 12 x 16 inches

Morphology, the biological study of the forms and structural relationships of living
Organisms, examines similarities and differences between creatures. The leaves of the Philodendron and UVA plants pictured here were both marked by insect trails and chewing. The print on Plexi is a layer of cell structures in teal lines.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Holey Leaves, Emerald, 2018, Watercolor on laser cut paper, 24 x 36 inches

Invasive insects, such as the Emerald Ash Borer, chew holes in the leaves of mature trees, defoliating the branches. After several summers of o damage the trees die, deprived of their means of turning sunlight into nutrients. The holes in the leaves were laser cut. The images painted after the cutting.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Wild Urban Thistle, 2016, Watercolor and archival ink print on paper, 24.5 x 35 inches

I encountered this wild, native thistle growing in the garden of a row house not far from my Baltimore home, a space that would usually be highly cultivated. While the owner values the plant because it will reseed itself, farmers use toxic pesticides to rid thistle from their fields. The print on Plexi is a scan of thistle seeds.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Holey Leaves, Violet, 2019, Watercolor on laser cut Arches paper, 24 x 36 inches

Invasive insects, such as the Emerald Ash Borer, chew holes in the leaves of mature trees, defoliating the branches. After several summers of damage the trees die, deprived of their means of turning sunlight into nutrients. The holes in the leaves were laser cut, The images painted after the cutting.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Canna Circle, 2017, Watercolor and archival ink print on paper with Plexiglas, 11 x 14 inches

An Ancient plant with many human uses, canna are also being studied for their ability to eliminate undesirable pollutants in wetlands due to of their tolerance to contaminants.
The print on Plexi is a topographical map of farming land.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Hidden in the Slag, 2019, Watercolor, archival ink jet print on Arches paper and framing Plexiglas, 33 x 41 inches

I attended a residency at The Studios of Key West in December ’17-January ’18, three months after destructive Hurricane Irma
ripped up the Florida Peninsula. Leaving piles of manufactured and plant debris throughout Southern FL. At Everglades NP we questioned a ranger about water flow through the park and creatures found there, asking specifically about Burmese Python. She replied “Oh, they’re there, but you’ll never see them.” It became a metaphor as we explored Key West;
some were at once obvious, some hidden in the background, intriguing or ugly, sometimes we saw them at once; others were revealed slowly later with a surprise.
CHRISTINE NEILL Mixed Media Paintings 2019-2017
Dames de Luna, 2017, Watercolor and archival ink print on paper with Pllexiglas, 16 x 12 inches

Night blooming plants give off specific scents to attract night pollinating insects. Shapes of the moon’s phases, which all living things are subject to, are printed on the inside of the Plexiglas