Artist Statement

My paintings present images of formal dinnerware in still-life arrangements.  Each piece of china, crystal or silver is from the collection passed down to me through four generations of women in my family.  As I work with these objects, they evoke memories of good times shared around tables graced with their beauty.  The result is a symbolic reflection of my past and present that captures generations of time, not one particular moment in time.

While my work reflects an intense interest in realism, it also includes my belief that abstraction is most effectively expressed within realism.  Each painting embodies the abstract elements within reality.

On the surface, the images appear to collide with reality.  A closer examination reveals that reality and illusion are sometimes difficult to determine.  By following this principle, my work expresses a special complexity while, at the same time, reducing three-dimensional images to abstract patterns existing as flat shapes.

With each painting, my goal is to convey a conceptual image of reality and the abstraction of reality.  I accomplish this by translating small pieces of information into multi-focused paintings.  The complexity of the paintings makes it difficult to focus on any one object.  The viewer must then step back to view the painting as an abstract whole.

Time is another element addressed in my work.  Each painting is a deliberate, symbolic reflection of the past and present — a statement about our own time, a means of saying something about our past society.

Biography

Charmaine maintains a studio in Alameda, California, where she continues to pursue her professional interests in painting and sculpture.  She is a widow with two children and one grandchild.  She is represented by the Galleria Prova of Tokyo, Japan.

Her professional accomplishments include several academic degrees and a twenty-five-year career as an art instructor at Alameda High School, which is part of the Alameda Unified School District.  Charmaine retired in 1993 after serving thirteen years as chairperson of the Fine Arts Department.  Geminis don't really ever retire though, so in 2000 she rentered the work world as an art instructor once again for Alameda High.  She also served as an Alameda County Art Commissioner.

Charmaine’s watercolors are sought after by corporate and private collectors in the United States, Japan, Australia and France.  Several Northern California galleries have presented her work in special exhibitions.  Her commissioned paintings are on view at the Westin Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.

Her work was featured in the November 1997 issue of American Artist Magazine and at the National Watercolor and San Diego Watercolor traveling shows.  The American Watercolor Society (AWS) invited Charmaine to participate in their 134th annual international exhibition in New York from April 3 to April 29, 2001.  Her work was previously included in this prestigious AWS exhibit in 1997.  Her paintings are often on view at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, California, and the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York, New York.

Charmaine has earned the following academic credentials.

Hayward State University, Hayward, CA Bachelor of Arts – Art & Social Science
Hayward State University, Hayward, CA Secondary Credential – Art
University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA   Bachelor of Fine Arts – Art
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA     Master of Fine Arts – Painting