Born and raised in northern New Jersey, Crista began painting in oils in 1989 under the instruction of John Phillip Osborne at the Ridgewood Art Institute in Ridgewood, NJ. She graduated from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 2000, receiving a bachelor’s degree of fine arts painting, and in 2003, received a master’s degree of fine arts painting from the New York Academy Graduate School of Figurative Art.

Crista paints landscapes mostly en plein air as well as in her studio in Nyack, NY, and is known for painting on a small scale. Influenced by the Hudson River School, she also loves the Macchiaioli, a group of Italian Painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. Some of her favorite artists are George Inness, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Martin Johnson Heade, and Edward Lear.

Aside from participating in various plein air events throughout the year, she exhibits throughout New England and New York.

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Artist Highlights:

• Earned numerous awards and honors, including: Adirondack Plein Air Festival 2012 and 2014 - Best in Show; Plein Air Easton 2015 and 2016 - Honorable Mention well as best Plein Plein Air Easton 2019 – Best Nocturne; Plein Air Annapolis 2019- Three awards including second place overall; The Mystic Seaport International Marine exhibition 2019 - the Stobart Foundation Award
• Plein Air Magazine featured Crista as one of their featured artists in their December/January 2016 issue
• Professional Affiliation – Oil Painters of America

Great things come in small packages! Despite their diminutive size, the quality of Crista’s craftsmanship and finishing details make each of these little treasures a world of their own – they draw the viewer in and hold them there with surprising power.