Friends of Flora: In Conversation with Christen Yates

I first discovered Christen Yates’ work at a show on the North Shore of Massachusetts and was immediately captivated by her landscapes — the way she captures light and emotion feels both grounded and transcendent. Christen is a painter based in Virginia whose work renders the emotional experience of the landscape and the natural world, through the use of layered oil paints, creating compositions that hover between representation and abstraction.

Her process is deeply intentional — she works with non-toxic pigments and, at times, even forages her own materials locally. That connection to the land is present in every brushstroke, honoring the very places she celebrates.

Christen grew up on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, a place that holds a special meaning for both of us. It’s where rocky coastlines meet wild light — a landscape that feels alive.  Through our shared love of this place, we began talking and quickly knew we wanted to collaborate in some way.

For our Flora collaboration, Christen painted directly on vintage French workwear — wearable canvases layered with oil paint.   Her brushwork brings an entirely new dimension to these garments, transforming them into living landscapes that move with the body. Each piece is a conversation between fabric, paint, and time.

Her work reminds me to slow down and look closer — to notice the quiet beauty that’s always been there. I’m lucky enough to have some of her beautiful work hanging on my walls and I’m so happy to call her both a friend and a Friend of Flora.

As we sat down to talk, we wandered through her artistic path, the landscapes that inspire her, and the ways clothing can hold memory.

Can you tell me a little bit about your journey to becoming an artist?  Is this something you always knew you had inside of you?

I was always drawing and painting with watercolors as a young kid. Growing up in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, the beautiful landscapes as well as a community of artists and poets who had flocked to our area since the 1800’s were a constant backdrop. Examples of people living the creative life were all around me and I always knew this was inside me, but I put it aside in college as not ‘practical enough’. After graduating, I began to take courses here and there and then in graduate school in Vancouver, British Columbia, I more fully embraced being an artist and haven’t stopped since. The necessity of beauty in my life and in our world can’t be denied – I love Dostoyevsky’s quote that the world will be saved by beauty. Yes.Yes.

Where or who do you look to for inspiration?

Nature is my first love and what makes my heart break on a daily basis. In Virginia, I live with an almost 360 degree view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We’re surrounded by farms and vineyards and Shenandoah National Forest is just down the road. No matter the season, I find so much that sparks joy and works its way into my art. I’ve also found that reading poetry helps give conceptual strength to my work - poets like Mary Oliver (of course!), Denise Levertov and Louise Gluck or writers like Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry. 

For the past decade, I’ve been inspired by the abstract expressionists, especially the stained color fields of Helen Frankenthaler and energetic brush work of Joan Mitchell (I highly recommend the book, Ninth Street Women, which I’ve now read twice!). The watercolors of John Singer Sargent have such an abstract quality to them and were my first major inspiration when I was in my early 20’s. And of course so many phenomenal contemporary landscape painters who are creating beautiful work today like Claudia Rilling and David Abbot to mention just a couple.

Other than your studio, do you have a particular place that you love to paint?

Yes! Each summer I spend a month with my parents in Rockport, MA and whichever of my kids can come in and out. I set up my watercolors on their dining room table or porch - it’s one of those ‘thin places’ in my life as the Celts talk about. Their home is  tucked in a little wood with the ocean peeking through the trees and it’s just a 5 minute walk down to a little beach when I need to cool off.

Where are your favorite places in the world to take in and experience art?

Raising four kids on a budget I’ve had little opportunity to travel the world as much as I would like! I have beautiful memories of being in Italy with my husband Chris as well as the Pacific Northwest where we were in grad school for several years. But, each summer I do have the privilege to soak up the rugged shoreline of Cape Ann, MA and visit the studios, galleries and museums of that area to explore how others are interpreting that incredible landscape.

When you are not in the studio painting, what is something you do that brings you joy?

Besides eating a meal or enjoying nature with the people I love, the creative life to me is endless and I find delight in nearly anything that is tactile: primarily cooking, gardening, consignment shopping for clothing and home goods (yay, Flora Vintage!) and occasionally pulling out my guitar and singing some Patty Griffin or Indigo Girls.

Do you have a piece of clothing that holds memory or is sentimental to you and why?

I cherish a gold chain with two pendants I put on: one from each grandmother. From my paternal grandmother, Ama, I received a tiny mustard seed in a glass tear drop to symbolize the generative power that can come from such a small, seemingly dead thing. From my maternal grandmother, Nana, I received a gilded leaf which to me symbolizes the transcendent beauty of the natural world. When worn together, I invoke the spirit and love of both grandmothers and I receive great strength.

In these photographs taken in her studio , by her son Tobin (https://www.instagram.com/tobinphotos/), Christen wears 1940s French Workwear — the same pieces she painted in.  I am so happy to be able to share them with you for purchase on https://www.floravintage.co/category/french-workwear

Christen with her paintings and her dog were shot by Ashley Fan. You can find her work at https://www.instagram.com/photosbyafan/

Discover more of Christen’s work at www.christenyates.com, on Instagram @christenbyates, or in person at The Brick Cellar Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia, where her paintings are on view through December 31, 2025.

Thank you, Christen for the beauty you add to the world and for being a Friend of Flora.

Vintage 1940's French Chore Coat with Oil Paint by Artist, Christen Yates

Vintage 1940's French Workwear Trousers with Oil Paint by Artist, Christen Yates