It all began here… Christmas gifts have played a pivotal part in my artistic journey through the years. It all started with two Christmas gifts I gave my mother and mother-in-law in 2006. As usual, I was trying my best to come up with something creative to give them that would be meaningful and rather lasting, I decided that I would try to draw their homes and give them notecards with the drawings on them. This was received with tears from both. What happened next was really unexpected. Friends and family began to see these pieces, and I began to get calls for commissions.
First was a call from a wonderful friend, and then came a call from one of her friend
s. Next came a call from an acquaintance I had connected with through the internet. And then another and another. And then a repeat customer whom I had done 3 of her previous homes wanted me to do both her daughters’ homes. As I was a freelance web designer at the time, I knew it was time to build myself a website. So, I purchased a domain name and set to building the website… you can see the current verson HERE.
The first year I had my website, I had 16 commissioned pieces to complete between Thanksgiving and Christmas… and I did! It was a challenge, but it also was such a confirmation that this was something that I was destined to do, if not full time then at least part time. Nearly 300 commissions later, here I am with a thriving part time commissioned art business having done mostly architectural pieces with some people and animals thrown in. I have done commissions in nearly every medium… graphite, pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic, and oil… everything except pastel. I am not sure why, but pastel was never really on my radar screen.
Fast forward to Christmas 2021, when I was the recipient this time of something I had included on my Christmas wish list: a set of soft pastels. I had been truly inspired by a 
particular pastel artist on Instagram. I knew very little about brands or hardness vs. softness or surfaces, etc. But, I did some quick research about what kinds of pastels were recommended and also which were the most affordable. I opted for the Sennelier half stick pictured here. I started working with them in January and fell head over heels for them. It has truly given me a new lease on my art life. I am still doing commissioned architectural art, but I am now almost exclusively doing pastel painting in between commissioned art pieces. The thing that draws me to pastel is the vibrancy of color and the ease of cleanup. I am trying to learn as much as I can about the different brands, papers, methods, etc., and I have loved getting on board with other online soft pastel communities. With the skills of website building already in my arsenal, I decided it would be fun to chronicle my journey with pastels here. So this will be the first of my posts chronicling my new love affair with this magnificent medium.
Christi Bunn’s fine art paintings and drawings have been commissioned by clients across the United States and in the U.K. She is sought out for her architectural pieces, from homes to churches to commercial buildings and more. While her special attention to detail and faithful representation of perspective lends itself to fine architectural works, she has also done portraits of people and animals. 
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