Charlene Wilson, daughter of a career military man, grew up to see the world at an early age. Born in London, England delivered by Prince Charles’ doctor, Sir Edward Peel, she lived in Morocco, Mexico, and Washington, D.C., which proved to be the cultural/artistic melting pot experience of her early years. Charlene then traveled extensively throughout Europe in between attending university in North Carolina.
Charlene followed her wanderlust in 1970 and traveled to Portland, Oregon. She graduated from the University of Oregon, began teaching in 1972, moving to Florence in 1974 where she met and married Paul J. Wilson, an intelligent renaissance man and artist. Charlene retired from teaching in 2010 after a career as a Reading Specialist and teaching grades K – 6.
In the early 1980s Charlene organized and ran watercolor workshops for Kathryn Davis. She also attended workshops with Kathryn, Pauline Cox, and Robert E. Woods before setting her brushes down to raise a family and continue teaching elementary school.
In 2010 as Charlene retired she began a new life line dancing, gardening, reading, and painting watercolor again. Her very first venture back into the arts was a watercolor journaling class with Jude Siegel at Sitka Art Center in Otis, Oregon. Since then, she has continued to experiment with beautiful color and design, enjoying her journey back into the arts while organizing local watercolor classes and workshops for her friend, Carole Hillsbery.
When Charlene paints she says, “I try to incorporate the emotion that I feel, whether I paint landscapes or portraits, using bright transparent color. That emotion transcends style. I love the dramatic play of light and shadow whether it’s on a face, an animal, an object. I like taking the risk: will something work…sometimes yes, sometimes no, but I will have learned from taking that risk. And, it gives me quite the spike of adrenalin.” Charlene has painted many commissions for friends and family. She was recently accepted into the Watercolor Society of Oregon.