Charlie Vicars
Biography
Charlie Vicars is a non-binary watercolor artist originating from Santa Cruz, California. They have been putting pigment to paper for over ten years, and they are entirely self-taught. Charlie's artwork is heavily influenced by nature, botanical artworks, and the human figure. Their creative process begins as a dive into self-love, through the lens of mother nature. Their artwork has been exhibited at the recent exhibit, Gaia: The Origin at the MADS Milano Art Gallery in Milan, Italy. Charlie creates in many different mediums other than watercolor, including mixed media, collage, bookmaking, and graphite, which they share periodically on their website and Instagram. They currently reside in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, spending their time with their partner, tending to plants, their cats and creating.
Artist Statement
When I begin my creative process, I find myself focusing on the interconnectedness of watercolor, nature, and myself as a part of this world. My completed pieces almost always contain some form of florals, figures, and mountains, clearly influenced by my experience living all across the United States. While watercolor is the medium I create with most, I also find the same passion while working with ink. Oftentimes, mother nature becomes my brush, and I use collected flowers to create my work. I find that blurring the lines between my work and nature is what drives me to create because feeling one with mother nature is where I feel the most at peace. My floral pieces will play with the flow of nature across the page, vibrant colors keeping your eye occupied. I want to keep the viewer's gaze aware that we, ourselves, are as much a part of nature as the flowers that I paint.
What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?
My journey has lead me to become a watercolour artist, however, my endeavour did not start there. I began painting simply to express my love for nature. Growing up in rural California, I have always felt connected with our planet, the essence we call Mother Nature. At first, I bounced around a few mediums, such as acrylic, graphite and pastels, until eventually, falling in love with watercolour.
What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?
I think of myself as a queer watercolour artist who focuses on the interconnectedness of florals and figures.
What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?
I reach for watercolour to bring a sense of calm to my life, and I try to bring about those pleasant emotional states with my work. Creating is very much an escape for me, and I find so much beauty in the strokes of pigment and paint. I hope to leave some of that for the viewer to enjoy, as well.
Can you explain the process of creating your work?
I spend a lot of my time surrounding myself with things I get inspiration from, like the collection of flower and gardening themed books I’ve gathered while visiting second-hand stores. I find a lot of my creative process begins with isolating a simple form or floral I’d like to illustrate. It becomes like a dance, the images forming and changing in my head much like how the sketching process may go. My approach changes depending on the outcome of my brainstorm. I find myself creating stencils from my graphite sketches sometimes, and others I’m scrubbing my pallet with a brush and just diving into a blank piece of paper.
What is your favourite part of the creative process?
I deeply love the first few strokes of every painting. I feel a very special connection to the first layer of paint. It is something that I share rarely on my socials, and regularly with my partners. I don’t ever feel like my work has an ugly stage. I watch my paintings grow as I work on them, their shapes coming to life with my strokes. I know that we are all growing, like trees, reaching for something more to give us life. That’s what I’m reaching for, the small, simple in progress paintings that we creators hold close to our hearts.
Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?
I’m currently in the process of putting together a much bigger project, that I hope to collaborate with other human beings for. I find myself continually fascinated with our concept of home, what that means in our individual selves. I find myself obsessed with finding how I can put pigment onto paper to illustrate that concept for individuals. I hope to create a new collection of work that celebrates the human and mother nature sides of our existence, giving visibility to all shapes, sizes and types of humans.
Website www.watercolorswithcharlie.com
Instagram www.instagram.com/watercolorswithcharlie
The Origin of the Universe / watercolor / 12" x 16"
Hope / watercolor & ink / 12" x 16"
Memory / watercolor / 9" x 12"
Spring Growth / watercolor / 9" x 12"
Georgia's Eye / watercolor & ink / 6" x 9"
Imprint of Orchids / ink / 6" x 9"
