Charles Carman Pierce

   Portraiture in charcoal, pastels and oil has been the artist's main interest. Plain Air study in landscapes, still life, animals, and even the left-hand modern swing in mediums of acrylic and watercolor have also proved rewarding. The artist's objective is to create, in whatever medium he is using, a statement of reality without line but with value.

   At age fifteen I began study with a mentor. With vast experience in the art schools of Chicago, he demonstrated the use of the charcoal stick and the medium, the secrete of the feather touch and use of layers to bring the subject out of the paper.   His most memorable advice was, "Study as many different artists and styles as you can; do not duplicate any but find your own style from what you learn." After high school, 1 studied at Joliet Junior College, then on to further study in Chicago at both the American Academy of Art (where 1 painted with Richard Schmid) and at the Chicago Art Institute. Formal study was interrupted by a military obligation (including service in Viet Nam) and the aftereffects of that experience.

   Discovering John Howard Sanders' Painting the Head in Oil reawakened my ambitions, and a 1979 exhibit in Detroit of John Singer Sargent's works, including his charcoals, sent me on the road to Florida. There, my greatest learning tool was to set up my French easel at art shows and festivals, and sketch people from life, in twenty minutes in charcoal or one hour in pastels. As a member of the weekly Portrait group in Tallahassee, painting alongside street artists from New York's artist league and Edward Jonas, I learned to complete oil portraits in one sitting. It was difficult to learn this, but I recalled an instructor in Chicago who had cautioned, "you must do 2000 head studies before you can do a portrait of any value."

   Instructed Portrait and Life classes at the Senior Center for Art in Tallahassee, 1987 to 1995. Became a member of the Tallahassee Art Committee 1987 to 1995, and a member of the art selection committee for three annual exhibits, including being in charge of hanging the art for them. Selected by M. II. Wilcox of the Left Bank Gallery of St. Simons Island to sketch patrons and exhibit artwork at the famous Cloister Hotel of Sea Island in Georgia at the annual Thanksgiving "Salute to Sea Island" 1990 to 2003.

   Studied portraiture with M. C. Baumgaertner at her studio in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Revisited the styles and techniques of the old masters and painting techniques of the Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi. In 2004, studied techniques of portraiture in pastel, watercolor and oil with Paul Leveille at the Scottsdale school of art in Arizona.

   My 2005 painting of Aliina was accepted in two national competitions: NOAP Society's local exhibit in Osage Beach Missouri (80 out of 600 entries), and the Portrait Society of Atlanta's website called portraitsocietyofatlanta.org (23 out of 60 entries).

   Currently, as a member of summitart.org. my work is to be exhibited at the New St. Luke's of Lee's Summit, MO.. For the future I plan to exhibit more locally, nationally and internationally, to offer workshop classes for beginners and intermediates, and to continue to learn new techniques while studying with other national artists.