Charlene Nield

I paint what I love most about the world, the people in it. And I paint most what I love about people, their quirks and imperfections, their stories. A good painting is never about that perfect moment, it’s about the oddball thing that happened on the way to that perfect moment. I develop a close relationship with the figures I paint. We spend a lot of time together. They see me at my best and my worst as we celebrate the day and toast the end of many a dark night. They know my story and that is how I come to know theirs. As I develop their colorful histories in layer upon layer of underpainting  the figure starts to emerge and their history shows through, particularly around the edges. My work is meant to be interactive, to ignite a dialogue, evoke a feeling, excite the imagination which ultimately leads to a conversation that speaks more to who the viewer is than what the painting is about. A face without features leaves it to the viewer to paint in their mind the final strokes.