Meet Christina Goudeau | Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Goudeau and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
At the age of 33, I decided to give up my career as an Sr. Information Assurance Engineer, my home, my family, friends, and church to relocate from San Diego, CA with my then husband to the Treasure Coast to stay at home with my children. Less than a year later I found myself in the middle of a tumultuous divorce; the bitter battle would drag on for the next two years. In that time, from 2014 to 2015, I picked up drawing again, therapeutically, and finished earning my Master of Business Administration. A friend saw my drawings and encouraged me to “do something with the talent God had given [me]”. As a Christian, I felt an instant sense of conviction. You see, Matthew 25:14-30 of the Bible, also referred to as the “Parable of the Talents” speaks quite gravely of those to whom God has given talents, but bury them. May of 2015, in faith, I started my art business expecting for God to bless it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I seek to glorify Christ through artistic expression and design. My primary mediums are watercolor, acrylic, and charcoal. I enjoy face and body painting as well. My work ranges from very simple and whimsical to complex depictions of my visions, dreams, and spontaneous moves in the Spirit. The specific kind of art I create is referred to as “prophetic art” in the Christian community, or artwork that seeks to bring revelation, confirmation, healing, and salvation to those who view it. Currently, in addition to attending to my homegrown art business, I lead the Prophetic Art Ministry at my church.

As a prophetic artist, I often paint live during praise and worship, as well. Most recently, I was honored to paint live at “Miracle on the Water”, a week-long gathering of many local Christian churches to praise, worship, and hear the Word of God from select churches. I am most proud of these performances, when I can paint during corporate worship, and give others an opportunity to see my artwork being created, that they may receive, through the work, that which the Holy Spirit wishes to speak into their hearts.

Getting to where I am today, as a professional, has been nothing short of miracle upon miracle. I am entirely self-taught and have relied solely on word-of-mouth and the platform my church has given me to grow my audience. I take on nearly every artistic endeavor afforded to me, and work hard to fulfill the heart of God in every piece I create. Most of the challenges I’ve faced have been financial. Undervaluing my work, failing to take deposits for commissioned work, and not having a good grip on the amount of time it will take me to complete a commissioned work were major hurdles for me, for a time. With the help of my husband collecting metrics, developing spreadsheets, and raising my bar in terms of hourly wages I became able to make my estimates more fair in terms of pricing and more accurate in terms of estimated time to complete a project. Implementing deposit and contractual requirements helped to weed out clientele who could not afford my work and/or would not pay as agreed.

Some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way are:

1) Do NOT undervalue yourself in terms of pricing.
2) They are called a “paint*ing*s because to an artist, the work is never done. I have to put a halt to reaching perfection at times, especially when a piece is taking much more time than I’ve estimated to complete it.
3) Contracts! Deposits! These two are a must in the commissioned art world!
4) Try new mediums whenever possible, stretch yourself.
5) Don’t give up.
6) Christ is truly King: there are pieces I complete and stand in awe of, wondering where it came from. I just can’t believe the depths of His love and grace, to give me such an amazing talent that even blows my mind at times.

I want the world to know that as a servant of Christ first, I truly owe my gifts and talents to Christ in me. However, He didn’t just come for me, but for all who will lend their heart, body, mind, and life to His will. My salvation and grace can be yours too, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16, NKJV

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take my friend to walk downtown Stuart, stop by Luna for lunch, Kilwins for desserts, and peruse all of the little shops and art galleries along the way. We’d have to walk the beach at Fort Pierce, have dinner and a cocktail at The Square Grouper. We’d just have to spend a day paddle boarding out of Zeke’s, have a bite and listen to live music at Twisted Tuna. The third day would be spent walking the streets of downtown West Palm to check out the street art and shops, walk Ocean Blvd, and hit Guanabanas. A fourth day would need to be spent cruising down to Miami for a bite at The Taco Stand, visiting the various shops and galleries there, and getting dessert at Ben B. Coco Chocolate Factory. A fifth day would entail biking South Beach Road and returning through Jupiter Island to grab a bite at Amato’s, then head back to the beach til dinner at Harry and the Natives (live music, of course). The sixth day we’d shoot inland to Okeechobee to do some shooting at Okeechobee Shooting Sports, cruise Lake O, and catch dinner and maybe a pool game at Lightseye’s. I’d definitely head back through Martin Grade Scenic Highway. The seventh, sadly last day would be spent at Revive Church for Sunday service. We’d catch a bite afterwards at Fruits n Roots, then rest before the flight!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First off, I’d like to thank God for endowing me with natural artistic abilities and talents. Without His blessing, I simply wouldn’t be an artist!

Secondly, I’d like to thank my husband, Seth, and my three children for their sacrifices and unending support of my artistic endeavors.

Website: https://www.jcartworks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christina.goudeau/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinagoudeau/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jc_artworks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jcartworksdotcom

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jc-artworks-stuart

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jcartworks/ Alignable: https://www.alignable.com/stuart-fl/jc-artworks

Image Credits
Images Credit to Revive Church, Stuart, FL