JD Challenger & James Christensen
JD Challenger
JD Challenger was born in Oklahoma with a creative fire that first began to smolder when he was a very young child. After moving to Taos, New Mexico, Challenger enjoyed success as an artist painting landscapes. Privately, he continued to draw and paint as he was learning about Native Americans. He was reluctant to show his art, prints and posters in public for fear of offending a people he greatly admired. Working in oils and acrylics on canvas, as well as watercolor, his style continued to emerge and his passion grew.
Upon witnessing a Ghost Dance ceremony being filmed for a movie, Challenger came face to face with his mission in life. "As I stood there watching the chanting and the dancing, I knew what I wanted to paint... nothing had ever been clearer." His wife, Denise, encouraged him to show his work to his Native American friends, one of whom was a holy man. When he did so, he received their blessing and was told, "There has to be a messenger and he doesn't have to be one of our People. The Creator chooses His own messengers. Your path is to tell our story and educate people about the past and about what is still happening today."
JD Challenger paints the story of a people rich in heritage and traditions; stories sometimes poignant, often angry... but always powerful and demanding to be told. All of his art, prints and posters speak their own truth. Challenger is the vessel that paints that truth.
JD Challenger Art, Prints and Posters Collection
Upon witnessing a Ghost Dance ceremony being filmed for a movie, Challenger came face to face with his mission in life. "As I stood there watching the chanting and the dancing, I knew what I wanted to paint... nothing had ever been clearer." His wife, Denise, encouraged him to show his work to his Native American friends, one of whom was a holy man. When he did so, he received their blessing and was told, "There has to be a messenger and he doesn't have to be one of our People. The Creator chooses His own messengers. Your path is to tell our story and educate people about the past and about what is still happening today."
JD Challenger paints the story of a people rich in heritage and traditions; stories sometimes poignant, often angry... but always powerful and demanding to be told. All of his art, prints and posters speak their own truth. Challenger is the vessel that paints that truth.
JD Challenger Art, Prints and Posters Collection
James Christensen
Inspired by the world's myths, fables and tales of imagination, James C. Christensen wants his work to add up to more than a beautiful - if sometimes "curious" looking work of art. Having taught art professionally for over 20 years, he likes to think of the world as his classroom. His hope is that through whatever he creates - be it a porcelain, fine art print or book - he can convey a message, inspiration or a simple laugh. He believes that teaching people to use their imagination helps us find solutions to sooth the stresses of everyday life - or get a little lift to help us keep going. In short - all things are possible when you share Christensen's philosophy that "Believing is Seeing."
Christensen was born in 1942 and raised in Culver City, California. He studied painting at Brigham Young University and, for a while, the University of California at Los Angeles before finishing his formal education at BYU. Since then, he has had one-man shows in the West and the Northeast and his work is prized in collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.
The artist has been commissioned by both Time/Life Books and Omni to create illustrations for their publications and his work has appeared in the prestigious American Illustration Annual and Japan's Outstanding American Illustrators. Christensen has also won all the professional art honors the World Science Fiction Convention can bestow, as well as multiple Chesley Awards from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists.
Christensen's fine art now appears as works of art in porcelain, artist-inspired products such as note cards, silk ties and several books - A Journey of the Imagination (1994), the adventure fantasy Voyage of the Basset-adapted for television by Hallmark's Odyssey Channel as the Voyage of the Unicorn, Rhymes and Reasons (1997), Parables (written by Robert Millet, 1999), The Personal Illumination Series and The Personal Illumination Journal (2000), a series of interactive journals and A Shakespeare Sketchbook (2001).
"Life seems to be more complicated than ever. And, all too often, too serious. I use my artwork to ease the burden of everyday stuff. My characters deal with the same problems we all face in what we call 'life.' Their unique point of view helps me put my own problems in perspective with a smile - and hopefully yours. We are all on this journey together and anything we can do to help each other is a good thing." - James Christensen
Christensen was born in 1942 and raised in Culver City, California. He studied painting at Brigham Young University and, for a while, the University of California at Los Angeles before finishing his formal education at BYU. Since then, he has had one-man shows in the West and the Northeast and his work is prized in collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.
The artist has been commissioned by both Time/Life Books and Omni to create illustrations for their publications and his work has appeared in the prestigious American Illustration Annual and Japan's Outstanding American Illustrators. Christensen has also won all the professional art honors the World Science Fiction Convention can bestow, as well as multiple Chesley Awards from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists.
Christensen's fine art now appears as works of art in porcelain, artist-inspired products such as note cards, silk ties and several books - A Journey of the Imagination (1994), the adventure fantasy Voyage of the Basset-adapted for television by Hallmark's Odyssey Channel as the Voyage of the Unicorn, Rhymes and Reasons (1997), Parables (written by Robert Millet, 1999), The Personal Illumination Series and The Personal Illumination Journal (2000), a series of interactive journals and A Shakespeare Sketchbook (2001).
"Life seems to be more complicated than ever. And, all too often, too serious. I use my artwork to ease the burden of everyday stuff. My characters deal with the same problems we all face in what we call 'life.' Their unique point of view helps me put my own problems in perspective with a smile - and hopefully yours. We are all on this journey together and anything we can do to help each other is a good thing." - James Christensen
Waiting for the Tide
Limited edition reproduction on paper: 1205/2250
image: 32 x 7-3/4
paper: 35 x 11-1/2
Limited edition reproduction on paper: 1205/2250
image: 32 x 7-3/4
paper: 35 x 11-1/2