Painting in Central Park, NYC- 1988

A photo-journalist from Japan took this photo and mailed it to me back in the art school days.

This was my first time painting in the snow. I still have the painting…somewhere.

 

A resume is an important piece of information detailing an artist’s education, awards, and career. But, damn, aren’t they dull?  I want to show, in pictures and paintings, a brief history of the foot prints that have brought me to where I am now, painting what I now paint. I often jokingly use the term “slinging paint” when I refer to my painting experiences. Well, there’s a lot that goes into each painting. A distillation of everything I have learned is in the brushstrokes of my paintings- the wisdom and guidance of my mentor, Maynard Dixon Stewart, my endless classes at the Art Student’s League of New York and The National Academy of Design, my many experiences and studies in Spain, and my continued reverent study of Nature. It has been and continues to be one damn interesting journey. Here is my part of my education in pictures.

 

Charles

 

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track,

which has been there all the while waiting for you,

and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.

-Joseph Campbell

 

My room at the Westside YMCA.

1988

 

It’s hard to think of bliss when you’re living in a 12x12 room with bad heating, nightly cockroach conventions, and tenants of varied mental states. But, the dulcet tones of the Julliard School students practicing above me and the fine view of Central Park were nice compensations. Sardine sandwiches, left-over props from still life set ups (too good to waste,) Kafka, and Dostoyevsky- all art student essentials.

 

Rainy Day- St. Patricks Cathedral 1988

16” x 12”

Oil on Panel

 

One of my cityscapes from my student days in New York. I look at this painting and can’t help but hear the Jim Croce song, “New York’s Not My Home.”

 

Cast Painting

24” x 20”

Oil on Linen

Michael Aviano Atelier- Saturday Classes

 

While in New York, I attended morning and evening classes at the Art Student’s League, afternoon classes at the National Academy of Design, and Saturday classes at the Atelier of Michael Aviano. This cast painting took many months to complete. Mr. Aviano let me paint somewhat loosely (this is considered “loose” for a cast painting.) I remember one Saturday- staring at my easel, head hung low, and Mr. Aviano coming over and saying, “You look tired. Put down your brushes. Go over to Ray’s and have a nice slice of pizza. You must first satisfy the animal in you so later your spirit can soar.” This quote still has a profound affect on my painting process.

 

Figure Study

23” x 18”

Pastel on Paper

Art Student’s League Evening Class- Instructor Jack Faragasso

 

One of the few pastel paintings I did as a student. Mr. Faragasso taught the Reilly Method of painting which involved strict attention to precise hue, value, and chroma.

 

Copy after Rembrandt

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

24” x 18”

Oil on Linen 

 

Most major museums have programs set up where artists can create copies directly from original paintings. This tradition goes back hundreds of years. After all, you can try to get into a Rembrandt workshop, but his being, well, dead, makes for a long wait. This is an excellent way to learn from the masters. This was the first of several copies I undertook to help understand this thing of slinging paint. To study one painting over several months is truly a unique form of education. Much of what I learned from these copies influences my work today. And, it’s a nice way to own a Rembrandt!

 

Copy after Anthony Van Dyck.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

42” x 32”

Oil on Linen

 

Van Dyck’s self-portrait at 19. It was hard to be 22 years old and staring so long at genius -an artistic self-flagellation reminding me how great the masters were. Also, studying Van Dyck helped me develop a technique I use in some of my outdoor paintings I call “alla prima underpainting.”

 

Copy after Rubens

Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain 

 

I get a kick out of Ruben’s sense of humor. Look at Joseph in the upper right. His expression says, “that’d better be an immaculate conception!”

I learned so much about texture from this painting. The impasto is in the flesh and the ultramarine (lapis lazuli back then) shows the grain of the wood. The shadows in my Sierra mountains hint at the clothing of Ruben’s Virgin Mary.

 

Along with all this classical study, I would paint landscapes in Central Park on weekends. I have never formally studied landscape with any living artist (for better or for worse!) As a student, landscape painting was always a retreat- a time to let the formal training fall into the subconscious just as one speaks without actually thinking of the constructs of language.

 

After New York, I wound up moving to Madrid with the noble intent of continuing my classical studies. Well, that path lead to a mixture of experiences I can only summarize by being an amalgam of Hemingway, Kerouac, Dr. Thompson, and the cast of “La Boheme.”

 

Me, in a bull ring in the pueblo of  Valdemorillo, Spain.

(Why, I can’t quite say…)

 

I learned so much during my time in Spain. Some of it had to do with pigment and canvas, but much more had to do with life. The fiestas, Corridas, friendships and sangria created a mosaic of memories which has shaped my life. There was a time, early in my professional career, when I regretted this two year sojourn. With time, I realized that at best- if after art school I had gone right into the gallery scene and tried to make a go of it, perhaps I would have made Southwest Art Magazine’s “21 Under 31.” But, I’d have missed some fine life experiences and would never have developed the quality of light and color that I now paint.

 

Madrid Fruit Market

25.5” x 21.25”

Oil on Linen

Plein Air painting of a small market off of Puerta del Sol. 

 

This is one of my favorite cityscapes from Spain. I was slowly starting to see the color of life, not the color of the studio.

 

Corrida de Toros,  Las Ventas, Tendido Siete (my favorite section,) Madrid.

Jane, Jamie, and me.

 

Jane and Jamie were two of my flat mates at La Boheme- Kentuckians traveling Europe. We shared our modest north Madrid flat with a gal from England and a gal from Ireland. Later we had a guy from Peru join our cast. The Sangria parties were legendary. What does this have to do with my paintings? Nothing in particular, but everything in general.

 

 

“El Toro Enamorado de La Luna”

(The Bull in Love with the Moon)

50” x 60”

Oil on Linen

This painting was based on a smaller painting which I completed in the bar. Jorge and Juano were the bartender and owner respectively. I did not start using photographic reference until 1998, and this painting was based on the original plein bar painting with various historical references added (the brands are all famous bull ranches, the portrait of Belmonte in the upper right, the Goya etchings below the bar- all things I added to make the scene real.) If you go to this bar (off of Plaza Mayor away from the cave bars,) a photo of this painting is now below the bull- a fine honor. The memories of painting in this bar are indelible in my mind- endless offers of wine and tapas. Such hospitality. They even stored my easel behind the bar!

  

Self-Portrait

24” x 18”

Oil on Linen

 

Here is a self-portrait painted after my return from Spain. A lot of my classical training and Spanish experiences are mixed in this egocentric piece (and a bit of Clint Eastwood idolatry!)

 

Kearsarge Pinnacles

11” x 12”

Oil on Linen

Plein Air painting in Kings Canyon National Park, CA

 

I painted this on my birthday in 2000. The paintings from this grueling backpack trip to Kearsarge Lakes, combined with a fine Bloody Mary at the Whiskey Creek Lodge in Bishop, defined the seminal turning point in my career. I carried all my equipment up over that evil Kearsarge Pass. On my 34^th birthday, I finished three paintings and caught fifty brook trout with my fly rod (yes, catch and release.) After hiking out of the Sierra, while enjoying a fine libation in Bishop, I decided to devote my career to creating works based on my outdoor experiences. I would leave the comfort of my north lit studio for the true light of Nature. I think I’m on the right path…