About Virginia Christman
I am a loud-laughing photographer and illustrator living and working in Pittsburgh, PA with my partner and two small children.
I spent the last 10 years of my working life as a hospital and university Chaplain—witnessing the pain that sickness, loss, and death inevitably bring into our life stories. It was difficult work, but it (along with much therapy!) ushered me into a new appreciation with the details of beauty and joy in the day to day. Truly, it was the many days spent inside a hospital that honed my awareness for life outside. The wonder of watching a hummingbird building, nesting, and hatching a family over several weeks of lunch breaks gave me what I needed to share more hours with the dying. Getting dive-bombed by a mockingbird on the tired afternoon walk to my car woke me up, scared me, and then made me laugh so hard it hurt. A surprise burst of winter cherry blossoms whispered to me, “Life wins” even on a difficult day of goodbyes.
The details of the natural world became sustenance to me in a new way over those years of hospital life. Now as a working artist, I get to connect with all of you out there in the world who also obsess over the glorious details—the farmers, gardeners, campers, hikers, lovers of place, lovers of endless vistas and endless lines on the undersides of mushrooms.
What details do you want to preserve or honor with a piece of art? Let your ideas run wild and let’s make something beautiful.