A native of California, Christy Henspetter, grew up in the San Gabriel Valley,
painting and playing numerous sports. At age 10 she relished buying art
supplies with her mother for her first adult art class. A lifetime member
of the California Scholastic Society and honor student, she graduated high
school near the top of her class.
In order to explore the outdoors and ski, she went to Northern Arizona University
in Flagstaff, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Art. From there she
followed her passions to the French Alps; skiing, sketching and receiving two
diplomas in French from the l’Universite de Grenoblé.
Henspetter then convinced herself to pursue an International MBA at Thunderbird
in Arizona. But after a brief stint in advertising in Los Angeles, she packed it
up for Santa Fe in the late 1980s to pursue watercolor, monoprinting and oil
painting. She has been at it ever since, enjoying the sublime light of the high
desert of Northern New Mexico. Whether in New Mexico, on the beaches of Hawaii, or
the South of France, Christy connects to nature through her art.
Henspetter’s work has been juried into more than twenty exhibitions from Los
Alamos to Oregon, including the Master Works of New Mexico and the Texas &
Neighbors Exhibitions. She has participated in numerous group and solo shows
from Hawaii to Florida, and is a Signature Member of the New Mexico Watercolor
Society.
In 1997 she was selected for a Fellowship by the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of
Taos, New Mexico.
Henspetter regularly teaches painting in Santa Fe at Valdes Art Studios and
occasionally a workshop Hawaii. In 2005 Christy will teach a workshop on Sanibel
Island, Florida, and offer a fall painting workshop in Provence.
Henspetter is represented in Hawaii on the Big Island at the Gallery of Great
Things. Her work can also be seen in New Mexico at the Abiquiu Inn and Country
Furnishings of Taos. The Matsumoto Gallery on Sanibel Island, Florida and the
Hotel Galapagos, Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador, also show her work.
Christy still skis and plays tennis.
