About Charlie Brown

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MY ART

My work represents the powerful impact that nature has upon me. My passion is expressed by using size and contrast to render natural objects that in life are monumental. The towering rocks of the southwest and the sturdy trees in my woods are in themselves statements about the grandeur of nature. I produce drawings that use the rich velvety blacks that I used during my career as a Printmaker engraving copper to produce intaglio prints. By simplifying shapes and making use of deep shadows I find the Zen quality that I experience during meditating.

 

My large-scale drawings are produced by applying layers of charcoal and graphite onto Arches paper. I build the layers using natural leathers and my hand and then reveal portions using eraser techniques and fine sand papers. With layers of fixative I can build these layers into a soft velvety look and feel. For display many of my current drawings are mounted on large stretched canvases.

 

HOW I GOT HERE

I was born in Iowa and grew up in a small farming community where I spent my summers working in the fields...I have always felt at home in the wide open spaces where the sky goes seems to go on forever.

 

My love of the outdoors was fostered as well by family camping trips, which took us into almost all of the states at a time in the1950's when the land was a lot more open and less populated and the forests seemed enormous. The regional differences were also more noticeable.  

 

Fast forward to my college years where I studied printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky in Iowa City and after earning my Art Degree I taught elementary art in a public school in a small town in northwest Iowa...I have always loved the free and honest expression that kids bring to their art, which is something many eventually lose.

I then earned my MFA in Printmaking and Art History at the University of Minnesota and studied under Malcolm Meyers and Karl Bethke, with whom I was a graduate teaching assistant.

 

I spent the majority of my adult life in the world of advertising and marketing as a Creative Director where I developed a strong sense of graphic design. I was fortunate to work on a great many outdoor accounts in the fishing, hunting and hiking industries. Part of my job was to direct photo and video shoots in scenic portions of this great country, which were turned into magazine ads and TV commercials. Viewing the landscape during what many call the "golden hour" would take your breath away as it did mine...I was able to capture the feeling of these scenes and bring them to many others who have a passion for the outdoors.

 

Now that I’ve been retired from advertising and marketing I am finally getting back to my roots as a fine artist, spending lots of time outdoors with our limited summers in Minnesota as I explore landscapes in different parts of the country but also in the suburbs of Minnetonka where my studio is located. A recent trip to New Mexico gave me a whole new look at a rugged landscape, which I totally fell in love with. I have returned to this area of our great United States to capture such a rugged, pure and honest beauty.