Charlene Will

Painting landscapes and abstracts are a visual diary of where I’ve spent time in the wilderness areas of California and the west, and in the urban surroundings of my hometown, Oakland, California.

In the outdoors, my work is to observe and look deeply, a practice of mental note-taking that helps me paint what I experience. I take loosely composed photos of an area, and at times, make quickly painted plein-air studies. Instead of creating literal representations of a landscape, I rely on a fluid, intuitive way of painting with color, mark-making, and mediums. I love creating an immediate and familiar sense of place that others can connect to, through a studied use of color, light, and luminosity. Whether my paintings are based in the wilderness or something abstract and conceptual, they are a personal and relatable, shared reflection.