My paintings and murals tell the stories of Makers and of the power of the Arts to uplift the human spirit. I create traditional oil portraits, using the timeless techniques of the Old Masters. I often incorporate silver leaf, which adds an ethereal element. Glazes create light filled surfaces. When someone sees my work I want them to feel a connection to the sacredness within us all.

The strongest influences on my work have always been close to home. These influences include sounds and imagery from the Old Time Music that permeated my childhood and the woods and forests that still surround my home. My grandfather was a Fiddler, and his music held the power to transform the greatest of life's hardships. Somehow, through his music, he taught me the same. I began to paint at a very young age. I remember being swept away by the process of creating when the adversity of life became nearly unbearable. Birds and Butterflies often find their way into my paintings. These winged creatures symbolize the metaphorical flight we embark upon as artists.

​In addition to works in Oil and Silver Leaf on panel, I create murals to honor and preserve the heritage of Old Time Music and Arts in my community. These murals, installed throughout downtown Mountain City, depict legends of Old Time Music from Johnson County, including GB Grayson, who first recorded the Ballad of Tom Dooley and Clarence Tom Ashley. The murals sparked a revival of interest in the history and music of Johnson County and inspired Long Journey Home, a musical heritage festival. The murals tell our community's collective story and celebrate a rich heritage that was nearly forgotten.

There is a wisdom that comes from living next to and out of the land-  a humility that is central to our identity here in the Appalachian Mountains. Here we love the land for what it is- not for what we can make out of it. And so I paint the land and the people of Southern Appalachia for what they are.

I am rooted here by family and community and by an intense love for the landscape.  Not only beauty,  but truth emanates from the rhythms of the music and dialect, the infinite complexity and simplicity of tree branches and snail shells, the hard-won wrinkles in the faces of old timers. 

As I see it, my role as an artist is to be open so that the creative force that exists in the universe can speak through me. I paint what I am compelled to paint, knowing enough not to question this.  
                                                                                                                               Cristy Dunn