Christina “Chris” Ostenstad is a local artist & athlete from Port Moody, BC. Her last name is a traditional family farm name in the Asker, outside of Oslo, Norway. As a kid she was drawn towards her roots, and was totally raised to explore and learn about her unique family culture. In 2013, she made her first trip to Norway, where all the puzzle pieces came together. She found a sense of belonging to her distant relatives. Not only does she carry the looks of her Norwegian family, she shares some of the same hobbies, and interests. This is where A little bit of Nordic was born.
A Little bit of Nordic comes from her love of all things Scandinavian. Living life as a Canadian, but following many Scandinavian traditions and sharing her love whether it is through her art, knitting, baking or photography. The list goes on. Chris is truly a well rounded artist, dabbling in many forms of art.
Growing up in an artistic home in Coquitlam, BC. Embracing art was a huge part of life at home. Encouragement came from her woodcarving father, John and crafter/sewer, mother, Barbara. At one point, Chris wanted to go to school to become an accountant, but her parents, said, No, you will go to art school.
Chris graduated from the Fine Arts Program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 1987. Currently Chris is enrolled in Emily Carr University, with hopes to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts and possible Masters in the future.
Chris’ art is very diverse, and works in many different multimedia’s. Depending on the season, her media changes. Multimedia’s include photography, fibre arts, scandinavian colourwork knitting drawing, painting… Photography is the main hobby that she gravitates back too from time to time. More often now, the IPhone is her choice of camera these days.
She takes inspiration from travelling to other countries. Chris has spent many years travelling throughout Canada, and often returning back to places more then once to recapture images of scenes in different lighting and seasons. Always looking for the better picture. Chris also is quite knowledgeable in Family history and has spent more than half of her life working on genealogy.
In 2017, Chris was bitten by the Triathlon bug, and took time away from her art to pursue a Half Ironman. In 2019, she completed several BC based Endurance swims and placed 3rd in the Penticton Peach Classic. In the summer of 2022, Chris completed the Skaha Ultra 12km swim and 2 weeks later, the Big Effort swim 18km at Christina Lake. She is now resuming a role as triathlon coach for tribalance.ca
Chris is a current member of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, Vancouver Fibre Arts Guild and BC Exotic Bird Society.