DPW Spotlight Interview: Charlotte Fitzgerald

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Charlotte's painting "Rose of Sharon" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Charlotte's DPW Gallery Page:

Charlotte Fitzgerald is an impressionist painter. She received her BA in Art from Western Kentucky University and also studied at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and with Jack Beal and Sondra Freckleton. She taught watercolor workshops, and sold her artwork at outdoor art festivals and in galleries in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina. She has worked in oils, watercolors, and acrylics. Her impressionistic oil still life and floral paintings reflect her love of gardening and the beautiful gardens and countryside. The shapes and colors of flowers are endlessly fascinating and provide inspiration for her colorful oil paintings. As well as large paintings she paints many small affordable paintings.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I have always been interested in painting and drawing, and my degree was in art education.  I left the field of art twice to be a buyer in a department store and to teach school.  Four years ago, I started painting small paintings to get back into the swing of things, and it has been the best experience I have had in painting because it allowed me to complete many paintings and find my own voice as a painter. 

Rose of Sharon
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Charlotte's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

At different times I have worked in charcoal, ink, acrylic on both paper and canvas.  I collage many of the prepared papers.  Lately I have painted in oils on both canvas and gessoboard.

A Stroll in the Flower Garden
(click to view)

Who or what inspires you most?

I am inspired by the colorists Wolf Kahn, Richard Diebenkorn landscapes, and Wayne Thiebaud.  I enjoy the use of color as well as the way they apply the paint.

Three Sunflowers
(click to view)

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I schedule time each day to paint.  It has helped me to stay motivated because I wanted to post a small painting each day.

Abstract 8
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Over the years I have taken thousands of photographs which I have arranged by subject in shoe boxes and later on the iPad.  Most paintings are loosely based on references that I have accumulated.  An art professor once advised me that if it occurred to me to do something then I should try it.  If it doesn’t work I take it out.  I think this has helped me develop my own style.

Foreground Trees
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

Currently, I am exploring exaggerating color while still maintaining basic landscape format.  I am constantly adjusting values a little lighter or a little darker to arrive at a pleasing arrangement.  During this process I take advantage of the textures that develop from the brush strokes and I try to let under layers show through to make the surface more interesting.

Thanks, Charlotte!

© 2018 Sophie Marine