Charlene Will

Painting landscapes and abstracts are my visual diary of experiences in wilderness areas of California and the West, and my urban home of the Bay Area.

I paint in oils, a medium I have loved since I began working with them as a teen. What I love about oils is their butter-like texture, and general purity of pigment and linseed oil. Oils help me transform this paint medium into expressing my deep connection to light and color. My paintings are contemporary landscape and abstracts on canvas, paper, and panel. Light and color reach deeply into a part of my intuitive soul, connecting me to their ever-changing qualities of luminosity, and energies of lightness and heaviness, drama and quiet. My process begins with a practice of marvel, deep observation and mental note-taking.

These observations and experiences then catapult into painting quick plein-air sketches, taking loosely composed snapshots, and bringing these 'notes' and sensations back to my studio. My painting style is fluid and intuitive, enabling me to tap into the experiences of a moment rather than creating a literal representation of a place.

Light and color also creates an immediate connection for people viewing my work, and evokes a familiar sense of place for them. It's these kinds of experiences that I enjoy sharing with others, especially given that my paintings are a process of joy.