Artist/ Journalist/ Peabody Award winning CNN producer, Christine Sharp, has been described by colleagues as a “Renaissance Woman.” Sharp grew up in a big Irish Catholic family of “cops and nurses” on the Southside of Chicago. She cares deeply about the future of health care, social justice and our planet. After completing her Masters Degree at the University of Washington, Sharp graduated with honors and was recruited by the University to teach systems management and psych nursing at the University of Washington.

Sharp went from halls of academia to running cutting edge Psychiatric Programs in urban Seattle, rural Illinois and Pennsylvania as well as for Washington State DSHS in Olympia. (Commuting 3 hours a day while pregnant).

Sharp’s journey took an interesting turn when she needed to stayed at home with her baby daughter because of severe nutritional allergies. She took filmmaking classes to launch a side business, recording family histories on videotape with handheld cameras… a new and exciting technology at that time. Sharp's love of storytelling took off and she began writing, producing and editing stories about courageous people making a difference. One documentary caught fire. It was about Freida. A woman who nearly died in a Nazi concentration camp but was searching for a doctor who saved her life just before the camp was liberated. The popular TV program, “Good Morning America,” picked up on local coverage and flew Sharp and Freida to New York to be on the show. The experience taught Sharp a valuable lesson. By marrying writing and storytelling with cutting edge video technology, stories of courage and social justice could reach a wide audience and make lasting change.

Sharp later worked with PBS, won a prestigious Peabody Award and a New York Gold Medal. She pioneered the Northwest News Desk for CNN. For ten years Sharp produced top news stories on everything from Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal to the Simpson Trial and a rare Bob Dylan interview.... also covering Tonya Harding and the Queen of England and everything in between.

Following a near-fatal blood clot to her lung, Sharp decided the exciting but exhausting 24/7 news biz was too much. She threw herself into her painting, teaching and writing and has created hundreds of Fine Art Works for Galleries and collectors across the globe. Her work is included in the Collection of the Seattle Mayor, Overlake Medical Center and Evergreen Medical Center to name a few.

Sharp has been featured in USA Today, Variety Magazine, Artist Magazine, King 5 TV, The Seattle Weekly and the Seattle Times. She also wrote several articles for Artist Magazine and is Co-Founder of the Kirkland Artist Studio Tour.

My Process: “I love to paint in watercolor on location (plein air) to absorb the inspiring nature that surrounds us. Then, back in my Kirkland Studio, I often deconstruct the landscape and put it back together in pleasing colors and shapes that give an exciting visual storytelling twist on iconic Northwest landscapes."