Featured Artist for January - February 2000

Featured GiveAway by Charles Swank Flower of Light 11" x 14" - 1990 Watercolor on Paper Valued at: $700

Rena Stewart Chicago, Illinois

Even though Flower of Light is a smaller work for Charles, it clearly resonates its own language. In pure light there are many colors and in this watercolor the viewer senses the essence of the flower or the flower hidden spiritually in the light.


MEET THE ARTIST

Featured Artist Charles Swank

Charles Swank was born in February 1947 in San Diego, California. When he was just a child he would sketch with his mother who was a Sunday painter. She would give him a pad to draw dinosaurs, coke bottles and Peter Pan to keep him from bothering her. When she couldn't get her oil paint caps off the tubes she'd let him light matches to heat them up to loosen the caps. His father was an excellent Swedish craftsperson and made ship models from scratch and lead glass works as well as boxes akin to Joseph Cornell.

Charles drew cartoons, nude girls and hot rods throughout elementary school. When he was sixteen, he was sent to reform school and while in the California Youth Authority, he decided to become a serious artist. After reform school, Charles went to the local community college then continued his education at the University of San Diego and finally graduated from Yale with an MFA. He was also a teaching assistant for John Baldessarri, Mike Todd, and Al Held along the way.

Charles' artistic talent that spans paintings, figurative drawings, sculpture and collage work. Though he writes poetry and small degenerate books, his focus and concentration lies in his main pursuit: the love of painting.

Charles uses mainly water based non toxic paints and also uses spray paints at times. Canvas and sometimes veneer, plywood, denim are his surfaces of choice. Communication on an evocative level gives him the incentive to paint. And he is gratified to just be alive which gives him the inspiration to make the choice of painting. He runs every other morning which clears his mind while he considers his work and what colors to use, what areas to shape, darks lights and how all this relates to his life and living. He's a vegetarian, takes supplements and is drug-free. This he feels keeps his body and mind in good shape allowing him the needed resilience to paint. He sometimes hits the coast surfing for the very same reason. He loves to travel for all the reasons most people enjoy traveling and is heading to Baja this month to see the whales and the Baja cave paintings.

Structure of Light, 1998 Acrylic on Canvas 48" x 45" $5000

Even though Charles has undergone quite a bit of academic training, he sees himself as more self-taught in his artistry. Throughout the decades of painting he's had, Charles still has a lot of mentors as well as influences, but feels that as artists, "we basically teach ourselves." He loves studying classics by Rembrandt, Picasso and Van Gogh as well as certain paintings by contemporaries such as Bleckner, David Reed and Victor Hsieh, to reflect and learn from the various works.

Charles has been painting almost every day for over 20 years and takes small naps while paint is drying, and commonly uses acrylics since they dry fast and even paints in the hottest sun so the paints dry even faster. The only days he doesn't paint are when he's on one of his week-long vacations which he takes several times a year, feeling it important to rest from painting, step back and take a break to refresh the senses. Charles believes that existence is temporary and we can't put all our expectations into it.

ABOUT THE ARTIST


Charles is married with 2 children and paints peacefully in semi-recluse, exhibiting his work occasionally. He used to sell his work in the 1960's and had a mural painting company in the 1970's that lasted seven years. Though he considers himself retired, he works as a personal aid for Joan Kroc, the McDonald Heiress. One of his duties is to take care of the multi-million dollar art collection. He decorates for the holidays which is a large undertaking at such a residence. He also lives on the property which allows him to paint at any time. Even though he's sold thirteen paintings this year, he does not consider himself a commercial or professional artist nor does he consider himself an amateur. He separates art and business like oil is to water. It's very difficult for Charles to put a price tag on his work, finding some them priceless and others worthless.

My Soul, 1998 Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 18" $4000

Everything inspires Charles to paint, from his ego to his soul and his day to day visions. He lies in bed and "wham!," a painting idea pops into his head. "Sometimes it's a line, a color, groups; of colors, shapes, forms." Writing inspires him and causes him to dig deeper into his soul to search for what is there, what he's doing, and what life is all about. He considers this all part of the process and to communicate, to share the ideas of the nature of art, love and existence.

Catch All, 1999 Oil on Canvas 66" x 96" $9000

Charles wants people to enjoy his work which he feels is the purpose of painting. He also wants others to experience the truth and what it's all about. His goals are to find more out about himself and to gain a deeper understanding of the Universe where he can share his understandings with others. Charles believes himself to be an "insider who turned outsider". During his time at Yale, he'd visit Manhattan for gallery openings and went to some of Warhol's parties, as well as Dylan's loft. Then he turned his back on it all. One of his mentors, Al Held, told him he was "committing artist suicide". Just years before, another mentor, Robert Berg, called him a "purist". He moved to the small town of Santa Cruz, California to spend the rest of his life painting peacefully without art world influences or distractions from communicating his ideas.

Charles informs us that "most of these paintings represent different periods of my life from the past couple years. My aim in life is to stay interested and to stay alive with intellectual stimuli and heartfelt feelings. Hopefully, others will also experience this inner pursuit, the inner dance, the inner song, and the magic."

Celestial Excretion, 1990 Oil on Canvas 40" x 40" $6000

Contact the Artist

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ARTIST STATEMENT

I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy doing it. I feel the whole purpose of painting is to go into places within myself that have never been explored and discover new insights and understandings of what its all about, my place in this big picture of existence. Sometimes its easy and sometimes it's hard, but most of the time its worth it. That's the picture I want to paint for you dear viewer. ~ Charles Swank