Celebrate Charles Baughman’s gallery closing on Friday, January 28th 5 – 7 pm at the Center for the Arts in Crested Butte in the Kinder Padon Gallery. The closing will include affordable and amazing abstract expressionist paintings and complementary drinkable art cocktails.
Find more information on Charles Baughman at www.charlesbaughman.com.
artist statement
Nature has a continuous process of destruction and rebirth. Nature’s rebirth often happens in unexpected ways; big events like earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes and fire. This destruction is always followed by new life – fresh yet subtle growth starts among grasses, trees and undergrowth first. Then as the seasons cycle through more and more regeneration happens.
The process of these paintings brings me closer to nature; the spirit of life happens with the willingness to destroy and re-create something new. When I create these paintings, I use only my fingers and sticks as a way to loosen up and capture that chaotic energy of nature. My paintings celebrate nature in all stages and seasons.
It’s important to remind people that the beauty in nature is fragile. We need to protect it as much as possible. In an effort to further spare our environment from unnecessary waste I frequently use discarded/donated house paint that would otherwise be thrown into the landfill. I hope my work is loud and makes a statement: we need to celebrate nature and protect this land before it’s too late.
about the artist
Charles Baughman is a celebrated artist from Wichita, KS. His work has been in galleries across the US and England. Charles has been an artist since he was a small child drawing on homework and in the margins of tests at school. His parents have always been supportive in his artistic endeavors and that support has enabled him to continue to grow as an artist and business owner.
Charles and his wife, Kate, have four children that are also giftedartists in their own right. Charles and Kate opened an art studio, The Art Park, almost 20 years ago and have been educating young and old in all ways creative. Charles enjoys teaching and seeing that light bulb moment when a student understands a new concept and applies it to their work. Many of his students have been with him for decades and those relationships have inspired his personal work. As a young man he was focused on drawing and painting realistically, but as he taught and discussed art and the creative process with his students he branched out and his style loosened to what you see today.
You may notice a unique signature of his work – a heart shaped rock in each painting. Charles and Kate have been collecting these for each other since they first met and now everyone in their circle of people collects them for his paintings as well. The heart rocks are a symbol of Charles’ love of nature, painting and family.
