Artist, James C. Christensen

James C. Christensen (born September 26, 1942) is a popular American artist of religious and fantasy art and formerly an instructor at Brigham Young University. Christensen says his inspirations are myths, fables, fantasies, and tales of imagination.

Christensen was raised in Culver City, California and attended UCLA. He then moved to Utah to finish his higher education at Brigham Young University. He taught art for over 20 years at Brigham Young University until the late 1990s.

Christensen appeared in an episode of ABC's show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in 2005. He created a picture featuring a member of the family as a fairy. The design team filmed a segment at his studio. The Greenwich Workshop donated a framed Court of the Faeries that Christensen presented to the family for the room as well.

Christensen has published more than three books, with many of his works appearing in many more. His first book, A Journey of the Imagination: The Art of James Christensen, was printed in 1994 to great acclaim. His second, Voyage of the Basset (October 1996), contains a frame story for a great deal of original work. His third book, Rhymes & Reasons, was published in May 1997. Christensen also illustrated A Shakespeare Sketchbook (May 2001) with text by Renwick St. James.
Not employed in all his paintings, his trademark is a flying or floating fish, often on a leash.

Christensen is married with five children including two notable artist daughters, Cassandra Christensen Barney and Emily Christensen McPhie. He is a Mormon with his wife Carole. He now resides in Orem, Utah in a house he designed filled with secret passages and sculptures inspired by his paintings.