Meet Christina Fishburne | Writer and Artist

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

Hi Christina, what inspires you?
When I was little and finished a movie or a book or listening to beautiful music, I’d go to my room and “play” it. As I got older I stopped playing but I’ve never stopped pretending. Movie soundtracks are my go to background noise when writing and painting because all the emotion is there. Characters start talking to each other, colors come together better, and staring out the window becomes more convincingly called “working”. I’m fascinated by backstories and the Bronte siblings: who have an epic backstory. I’m most inspired by how people end up where they are. The choices we make, the circumstances dropped on us, the obstacles overcome–or not– interest me. Non-linear stories are my favorite. I love the initial confusion and wonder, the trying to figure out how all the unrelated things go together. Perhaps because so much of our life is lived this way. My day is filled with flashbacks. Memory is the ultimate storyteller and I think that’s what I’m always trying to replicate: the treasure of discovering something that was there all the time and I didn’t see.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve been writing stories since Kindergarten and painting since my early 20s. I’m not at all professional in either. I do have my MFA in Fiction Writing from University of Alabama, which was a life-affirming experience, but I don’t think there’s anything professional about art. It’s never “done,” never as good as it can ever get, and that’s why I love it. As a writer, my goal is to publish my novels, but publishing isn’t why I write– and thank God, because it’s a brutal and fickle little world. I write because it’s how I make sense of my life and it gives me inexplicable joy. I rely heavily on my faith, which ultimately saves me, but I realize that isn’t true for everyone. I want to make people laugh and feel better about being sad or frustrated.

I’m a soldier’s wife and mother to three children. I’ve had no control over where I’ve lived, virtually no help in raising my kids in foreign countries, been thousands of miles from my support system, been betrayed, lost two pregnancies, been robbed, and have let “being published” dictate my self worth. It was during the two darkest times of my life writing and painting helped me turn on the lights.

After the second miscarriage I started blogging– just to keep from losing my mind in a filthy temporary lodging, alone with two small kids, on an island I never wanted to live on. I hadn’t written in years, other than my journal. My only hope was that in writing something someone would see I’d try to make the horror less horrible. I could maybe convince myself it wasn’t so bad. Spoiler: it was still hideously bad. However, I heard from friends and strangers that they felt the same but had never laughed about it before. It helped and I began seeing pain as a potentially great backstory, something that would be necessary for my (please, Lord) impending triumph. I remembered someone saying back in High School, during a terrible time, “You can’t have a resurrection if there’s no death.” If there’s one thing humans can count on, it’s death. So I try to be on the lookout for resurrection.

Nine years later I’d finished unpacking another move, to a different freaking island I didn’t want to live on, and though I was writing, it wasn’t enough. Which terrified me. Then the pandemic came, but so did the most beautiful friendship. My brother ordered me a present, the shop owner had to contact me later, and a week after that, the three of us were on a Whatsapp chat, laughing, raging, talking art, music, and books several times a day. The closest sense of community I’ve ever felt was during the pandemic. Soon, this friend and shop owner, Teesh, asked me if I’d be interested in illustrating an edition of Jane Eyre for her press. I hadn’t painted in years. I was– you guessed it– terrified. But it was one of the greatest delights of my life. And the first of many collaborations. I’m most proud of The Crow Emporium Press illustrated edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Together with incredible artist Kirsty Maclennan, this Book of Hours style edition is the only fully illustrated one by Anne Bronte.

My nonfiction is almost always taking two or more unrelated things and figuring out how to make them metaphors for whatever answer I’ve figured out. My fiction takes someone running or ripped from their comfort zone and forces them to adapt to or accept a new zone altogether, or to learn how the new direction is where they were meant to be the whole time. I love folktales and magical realism. I love backstory and the nonlinear.

My painting inspiration varies from travel experience to literary expression to musical collaboration. It’s almost always in response to something someone else has asked me to think about, and I’ve learned to love the terror of uncertainty when working with other creatives. I never have an immediate plan. It’s very much a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, nail-biting, crap shoot of embarrassingly inferior ideas– until it isn’t, and the project comes together as a shared vision. Usually, backstory plays a significant role in this. I don’t think in paintings. I don’t think of myself as an artist, but painting is a satisfying way to tell a story when I can’t write what I think I should.

I love my life, yet still complain a lot. I trust God to protect me and my family, but I don’t understand what the hell He’s doing much of the time. I write what I know and a lot about what I don’t. I’m not a huge fan of reality. Nothing I paint is lifelike and my novels might never be published, but I’ll keep going because reality can be counted on to need some edits.

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?
Day 1: Leonardtown MD
Our little town square sits at the top of a hill, and the wharf below is hosting a vintage regatta with a craft fair on the green. You can get your ice cream from Frog Town Creamery (named for a lovable ragtag group of kids in the 1920s) down at the wharf behind the gazebo, or you can hike to the top of the hill back to the square, to The Salted Scoop–where they use Amish cream to make their treats. I’ll be next door at Kneaded, the best bakery in town and beyond, and praying she has Moonshine Cookies today. As we check out the shops the Methodist church chimes hymns on the hour. The post office where the gentleman behind the counter always says I have a kind smile, is closed. It’s Saturday afternoon. We have to focus if we want to get through Fenwick Books before they close too. Then we gas up the minivan for tomorrow’s road trip.

Day 2:
Driving out of southern Maryland, you’ll see Old Order Mennonites plowing their fields, driving their horse and black buggies, and riding their bicycles. If it’s warm, you can wave to the children sitting in back of the open flatbed wagons. Sometimes they wave back. You won’t see the Amish. They don’t come out, but you’re welcome to go to them.
Once we hit the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Parkway we’ll stop at all the scenic pull overs and look at the mountains because they’re different at every spot. Before we get to Luray, we’ll stop at The Apple House because we must. Barbecue, Reubens, thick grilled cheese, and apple donuts. Because we must. Fight me.
We’ve rented a house across from the train station. It has green velvet couches, exotic wallpaper, and possibly lead paint. But we feel lucky. The front porch is wide and painted putty blue, perfect for beverage sipping of all kinds.

Day 3
Luray Cavern
We sleep late and drink coffee on the front porch. The cavern opened at nine. We get there when we get there then take our time under the earth where it’s cool and eery and the rocks play a fortress tune when struck a certain way.

Day 4
Lake Arrowhead.
Surrounded by mountains and farms, driving to Lake Arrowhead we pass local government election signposts. It looks like two Cubbages are running against each other. Father and son? Brothers? We stand in the silty sand of the manmade lake and drink from our water bottles as we speculate who would win a Cubbage fight.

Day 5
We walk around down town Luray. The volunteer fire department sirens blare. We visit antique shops, get ice cream, sit by the creek, and check out a clothing boutique in a basement that’s closing down. I buy a weird shirt cuz I feel bad for her. We eat pasta at Domenico’s and then head back to watch tv, drink some wine, and look up Cubbages online to see what the story is.

Day 6
Leaving the mountains and the apple donuts, the caverns and lakes, and having our ears pop as we come back down to sea level and vintage regattas, the shush of minivan tires over wet streets is chopped up by clip-clopping Mennonite horses.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Both my parents are storytellers, my father taught me to paint, and my brothers built a foundation of imagination with me that can’t help but support the heaviest nonsensical reality. Charlie, a successful New York musician, in particular has championed me and included me in many collaborations which have inspired and ignited a confidence I’ve never had until now. We are very much who we are because our parents encouraged and reveled in our antics as kids.
I also have to credit Leticia Lentini of The Crow Emporium Press with transforming my creative life. When I say “I can’t. I’m absurd” she says “You can. Do it anyway.” She’s always right. She’s the sister I never knew I missed and I’m beyond grateful for her unending support and love.
It must also be said that I’m significantly less interesting without my children and husband who provide me ample material. Daily.

Website: https://www.christinarauhfishburne.com

Instagram: @Christina_Rauh_Fishburne

Linkedin: Christina (Rauh) Fishburne

Twitter: @FishburneRauh

Facebook: @christinarauhfishburne,writer

Youtube: @browneyedrecluse

Image Credits
Thanks to Gary-Ann Kia for the personal photo.