I remember being eight years old and painting with my oil pastel set that I received for a Christmas present from my dear parents. I was in school copying a Christmas card image of a dog with a ribbon in his mouth and a package dangling down from the ribbon. The sister came over to me and asked me if I did that free-hand. I said “what?” as I did not know what free-hand meant. I said I just copied it by sight, but did not trace it. She thought it was very good and told my father.
I also recall doing a pastel painting of an Olde Philadelphia street scene and putting it into the bin, to see if it was accepted for the school's literary magazine “Dialogs”. I called the painting “November Streets” as it was all browns, oranges, and purples with row houses, street lamps, steps, with a feeling of motion to it. I was delighted that it was placed in the center of the magazine and poetry was written by the students with that title. This was my first Olde Philadelphia painting.
My style of painting has changed over the years; currently I am painting in an abstract expressionism and impressionism style. I also enjoy painting “en plein air” or in the open air - especially when I am sitting on a dock at my favorite Pocono pond, in an impressionist style.
I am mainly a self-taught artist and have worked in watercolor, acrylics, and pastel on paper and canvas and have been included in many professional shows over the years and won many awards. My art is included in many private and public collections in the United States and Europe and has been featured in Victoriana magazine and twice on the cover of Philadelphia Stories magazine. My memberships have included: Mcgopa (current board member), Artists Equity, ARTsisters, Cape May County Art League, Greater Norristown Art League, Wayne Art Center, and the Main Line Center of the Arts, Perkiomen Valley Art League, Main Line Art Center. I will soon have my first one-person show at the Tyme Gallery in September 2010. The Tyme Gallery in Havertown, PA also represents me as well as Tursi Interiors in Media, PA.
Lastly,I enjoy working in fabrics and painting on fabric. I currently am working in an “art quilt” style of a completely handmade quilt of Valley Forge circa 1777-1778 which I developed from one of my original paintings of Valley Forge. This has been an on-going project for several years. I hope to complete it in 2010.
Thanks for your time and interest in my art!
Thanks for visiting,
Lois Allen Charles
(Please come to my one-person show at the Tyme Gallery from September 10 to October 5, 2010)
