ARTIST STATEMENT
My landscapes are rooted in a deep connection to the natural and wilderness areas of California. I walk or hike daily, soaking up the beauty of nature while witnessing these astonishing systems of co-existence and growth. Time spent in wild places helps me connect with what is larger than myself, providing a kind of anchor for life. Painting allows me to celebrate this exuberance and resilience of our natural world, and in turn, enables me to offer a window into places that are intimate, and timelessly beautiful all at once.
I enjoy blending the abstract and real, working with oils on stretched canvas or linen. Using subjective and representational color on this textured surface, I layer transparency with thicker layers of paint, painting spontaneously and intuitively with brush and palette knife. Layers are sometimes scraped back, creating a canvas rich with history, and a surface that is alive and dynamic.
Will is the recipient of The Pence Gallery 2025 Emerging Artist award, culiminating in her first solo show during January-February of 2026, in Davis, California.
BIO
Growing up in the farmlands of rural northwestern Ohio, Charlene discovered her love for the natural world and making art. Picking up her first paintbrush at age twelve, she cemented a lifelong obsession with painting. She studied Graphic Design and Fine Art at the Ringling School of Art & Design in Sarasota, Florida, receiving her BFA. In 1982, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and pursued a successful career in design and publishing for several decades. In 2022, she returned to being a full-time painter. She lives in Oakland with her family, and works in her backyard studio.
I love having visitors to my studio! If you’re in the Bay Area, and would like to arrange a studio visit to talk about art, or see more of my work, please contact me via the button link above.
