A Little History

Some of you are probably wondering who I am and how I got here. Well, maybe not, but I’m gonna tell y’all anyway. 

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who loved to draw. His name was me. I drew all the time when I was little. I’ve had a sketchbook since I can remember. I remember sitting in my little desk, doodling and drawing while my dad watched the news. I loved to draw trees. I remember trying to draw every single individual leaf, then getting tired of it halfway through the tree and scribbling in the rest.

One of those early trees. I think I was about 9 years old when I did this.

My whole family is artistic. My mom was an art teacher at one point, worked in advertizing, and also did floral design. My dad is an amazing architect and designer. I remember my grandmother always getting into some new craft every few months- painting, stained glass, basket making, ceramics, sewing, whatever. And my sister also has some amazing art skills and dabbled in a few art-related jobs before entering seminary.

Which brings me to the other thing about my family- they are the reason I am the God-lovin’, church-workin’, Jesus freak I am today. I can attribute some aspect of my faith to every member of my family. They each helped make me who I am today and for that I will always be grateful.

So, anyway, I started taking art classes in high school. Learned a little about painting, took some B&W photography classes in school using my grandfather’s camera, and learned as much from my mentor/mother as I could. She jumped on any opportunity she got to teach me some new painting technique or drawing trick.

A high school sketch of the late, great Rufus Thomas.

I decided to major in Landscape Architecture when I went to college. That meant actually getting accepted to Auburn University’s College of Architecture Design and Construction. Which meant lots of art and design classes.

College sketchbook from study abroad in Rome. View of a nearby church from our apartment.

I got pretty good at drawing buildings and trees. I took design classes, watercolor classes, drawing classes, and got into digital design and graphics work too. 

Another (odd) college sketchbook page. Look, another tree.

Graphic design became a side hobby. I started designing brochures, t-shirts, posters, and fliers for various organizations I was involved with, and had a lot of fun with it. I still do, actually. My roommate and I designed and sold t-shirts for a while, which was super fun. Ok, well, we designed two shirts. I think we sold about ten of them. But they were awesome, and it was fun. We even had our own little tag we put on each shirt.

I graduated from Auburn with a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Community Planning in 2006.

Some illustrations from my thesis project.

I went to work at a design firm in Atlanta doing landscape architecture, community planning and urban design. Most of the projects I worked on were new developments and urban infill projects in the Atlanta area and throughout the southeast. That job was extremely rewarding and I was able to learn a lot about illustration and rendering form some extremely talented professionals.

In my free time, I was doing a lot of photography. My then-soon-to-be-wife and I would go out for days at a time and just take photos. I also got into painting for a while. I enjoyed it, but only completed about one or two paintings a year- mostly because I didn’t have a place to paint and make a mess that wouldn’t jeopardize an apartment security deposit.  

Painting of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Auburn.

I got married in 2009 and soon after changed fields, going to work for the church full time as Youth Ministries Director. I’ve gotten to use my graphic design education a lot in publications, and I started working with oil pastels about a year ago. They have since become my medium of choice. I’m now doing oil pastel pieces almost exclusively, though I still break out the paints on occasion, and I still love going out and doing photography with my wife when we have free time.

St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Atlanta, where I work these days.

I love making these pieces. It’s relaxing. Sometimes I’ll work one for weeks at a time, and others will be completed in just a few hours one night after a long day at work.  Sometimes I’ll have an idea in my head of what I want to draw before I sit down, and sometimes I just start scribbling and see what comes out. But I enjoy making them, and now I’m putting them out there for others to enjoy, too.

So that’s a little about how I got to where I am today. 

Go check out my website at www.charlesmakesart.com