ABOUT THE ARTIST
Charley de Limur lives and works near the small, rural town of Calistoga, in the wine country of northern California, where he concentrates primarily on landscape painting, using oils and pastels, and intimate block-printed images of local insects, animals and birds.
Charley grew up in both Northern California and in France. Born in San Francisco, he was also raised for eight years in Paris, where his exposure to the Impressionists and their reverence for Nature has had a lasting influence.
An early appreciation of the California Coast, the beautiful natural and open vistas of the region, and the California Colorists movement had a primal effect on my art… my childhood years living in Paris and Europe also gave me first hand exposure to the Impressionists and Pointillists, which have had a lasting influence on my own style. Not to mention the untold hours reading all the beautifully illustrated, hard-bound French comic books, like Tin Tin. Some have suggested a touch of Magical Realism in my work, as well.
For many years Charley owned and operated a fine art silkscreen studio, both in Washington DC and in San Francisco, collaborating with a number of other artists and exploring a variety of visual styles.
He has exhibited in solo and group shows both in San Francisco and Washington DC, as well as in the Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Museum, The Sofie Contemporary Arts Gallery, and for many years with Open Studios Napa Valley.
Charley graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, where he concentrated on art, theater and communications.
Currently, he and his wife live at their home and studio in a forest at the top of Diamond Mountain above Calistoga, where he also grows a garden, nurtures a collection of orchids in his greenhouse, and hikes around the mountain discovering intimate scenes to draw and paint.
His subject matter is usually the hidden landscapes found in the forest around him, but he also began a series of the wide open vistas of California’s Central Valley, with its big sky, changing light and vast agricultural fields.
Also new are several works that explore the idea of natural disasters, and the energy and beauty of wildfire, a more recent and compelling addition to the local environment. He and his wife are learning more about living with fire, wildfire ecology and how to better steward their forest land.
The drive for renewal after recent wildfires in our area has been inspiring, by the people rallying to clear the burned land and rebuild, and by the sheer force of life in Nature: the need and ability to sprout and grow anew, the urge to get up each day and continue to create, to make art.
Their two adult children work in the film industry and live in Los Angeles, where Charley visits often and loves to explore the vibrant LA art scene.