Xine Watson
Richmond, Virginia
Biography
Xine Watson, otherwise known as known as M. Christine Watson, is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Richmond, VA. She works across photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, and textiles—often blending words and images to explore the connections between nature, creativity, and everyday life.
Xine received her Fine Arts degree in Communication Arts and Design with a minor in Photography at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Art. Over the years, she has also built a career in creative fields—graphic design, photography, writing, and marketing—while continuing to grow her own art practice. She runs Draffin Designs, her personal studio and design business, and currently creates written and visual content for Reynolds Community College.
Her art has been shown in solo and juried exhibits across the country, including the Virginia Quilt Museum, Main Street Arts in New York, The Studio Door in San Diego, and the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, DC, as well as many Virginia galleries.
Alongside visual work, Xine has a love of writing, particularly haiku. Pairing photography with poetry—known as haiga or shahai—has become a natural extension of her practice, allowing her to merge two passions into one.
Whether through photographs, paintings, or words, Xine’s work encourages slowing down and noticing the beauty and small wonders that often go overlooked.
To see more of her work, please visit www.mchristinewatson.com
Artist's Statement
"I’m rarely without my camera or iPhone. For me, photography is a way of noticing—catching the everyday beauty in a pattern of leaves, the curve of light, or the stillness of a moment. Like my drawings and paintings, my photos almost always return to nature, where I find endless inspiration.
My relationship with haiku began years ago in an unlikely setting: an office lunchroom. A joking response to a coworker’s microwaved stinky fish turned into a collaborative collection of haiku that quietly circulated among us. Later, at an estate sale, I stumbled upon a tiny mid-century book of Japanese haiku masters like Bashō, Buson, and Issa, and I was hooked. It’s still one of my most treasured finds. The observances of the natural world, the seasons, the weather, all resonated with me as did the simple complexity of a haiku.
I’d also been experimenting with minimal ink painting, and the parallels were obvious. The old adage, 'less is more' was fitting for both. It’s also much more difficult to achieve. To convey a feeling or a moment with so few lines — for both ink painting and haiku.
From there I was off and running, sinking into the rhythm of haiku. It’s simple complexity.
When I began sharing photos online, I naturally started writing haiku to accompany them. Only later did I learn this practice had a name: haiga—or more specifically, shahai when photography is involved. Discovering that tradition felt like a revelation.
Haiga allows me to merge two things I love—writing and photography—into one. It’s not just about what I see, but what I feel: a distillation of experience into a few lines and an image. On the horizon, I plan to pair my ink paintings with haiku. But for now, through this work, I hope to share small moments of wonder and connection with others."
Xine Watson, otherwise known as known as M. Christine Watson, is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Richmond, VA. She works across photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, and textiles—often blending words and images to explore the connections between nature, creativity, and everyday life.
Xine received her Fine Arts degree in Communication Arts and Design with a minor in Photography at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Art. Over the years, she has also built a career in creative fields—graphic design, photography, writing, and marketing—while continuing to grow her own art practice. She runs Draffin Designs, her personal studio and design business, and currently creates written and visual content for Reynolds Community College.
Her art has been shown in solo and juried exhibits across the country, including the Virginia Quilt Museum, Main Street Arts in New York, The Studio Door in San Diego, and the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, DC, as well as many Virginia galleries.
Alongside visual work, Xine has a love of writing, particularly haiku. Pairing photography with poetry—known as haiga or shahai—has become a natural extension of her practice, allowing her to merge two passions into one.
Whether through photographs, paintings, or words, Xine’s work encourages slowing down and noticing the beauty and small wonders that often go overlooked.
To see more of her work, please visit www.mchristinewatson.com
Artist's Statement
"I’m rarely without my camera or iPhone. For me, photography is a way of noticing—catching the everyday beauty in a pattern of leaves, the curve of light, or the stillness of a moment. Like my drawings and paintings, my photos almost always return to nature, where I find endless inspiration.
My relationship with haiku began years ago in an unlikely setting: an office lunchroom. A joking response to a coworker’s microwaved stinky fish turned into a collaborative collection of haiku that quietly circulated among us. Later, at an estate sale, I stumbled upon a tiny mid-century book of Japanese haiku masters like Bashō, Buson, and Issa, and I was hooked. It’s still one of my most treasured finds. The observances of the natural world, the seasons, the weather, all resonated with me as did the simple complexity of a haiku.
I’d also been experimenting with minimal ink painting, and the parallels were obvious. The old adage, 'less is more' was fitting for both. It’s also much more difficult to achieve. To convey a feeling or a moment with so few lines — for both ink painting and haiku.
From there I was off and running, sinking into the rhythm of haiku. It’s simple complexity.
When I began sharing photos online, I naturally started writing haiku to accompany them. Only later did I learn this practice had a name: haiga—or more specifically, shahai when photography is involved. Discovering that tradition felt like a revelation.
Haiga allows me to merge two things I love—writing and photography—into one. It’s not just about what I see, but what I feel: a distillation of experience into a few lines and an image. On the horizon, I plan to pair my ink paintings with haiku. But for now, through this work, I hope to share small moments of wonder and connection with others."
