Charlotte took something she loved to do and made it her job, so it never really seemed like work. “I am all up and at it by 8 a.m., so absorbed in my work that I often don't realize it is 3 p.m. and I haven't eaten a thing all day,” she said. At age 74, Charlotte has no plans to stop creating. 

 

From a very young age, Charlotte’s mother recognized her talent and handed over her paint and brushes. Charlotte comes from Frankfort, a small town in Kentucky. She recalled that there were few opportunities for her to study art, so her mother would enlist sign painters to give Charlotte a few minutes of a lesson. “She was my biggest cheerleader and encourager.”

 

When she was 13, Charlotte was awarded free university-level drawing and painting classes at the University of Kentucky. One of her instructors deemed Charlotte “the most talented student to ever enter his door.” She went on to win free classes at Western Kentucky University and Ohio State University. 

 

As an adult, Charlotte worked for the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation as the aka (All Kinds of Art) Coordinator, teaching painting classes and Spanish to grades K-8, as well as interviewing and hiring other teachers of the arts and supervising them. With a masters in Spanish, Charlotte taught all levels of undergraduate Spanish at Florida State University and also taught Doctors Without Borders in the past.

 

Charlotte’s work contains influences from the different countries where she has lived. “I lived in Peru as an exchange student. I lived in England, and my second child was born there. My husband was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force, so we traveled a bit. We were in Iran in 1978-'79 and evacuated after the Shah left and hostages were taken,” Charlotte recalled. “After my husband died, my daughter convinced me to move closer to her into Hammock Bay.” Now she lives three streets from her daughter, Rebecca, and loves being so close to her grandchildren. “Hammock Bay has inspired a huge number of my landscapes. I tend to prefer landscapes because they are done by nearly every artist, which makes it a tremendous challenge to do a unique one. But that's what I love, a challenge!” 

 

Since she has been in this area, Charlotte has done presentations at Florida State University and was awarded “Most Creative Artist" by the Artel Gallery in Pensacola. Her work was also exhibited in the Pensacola Museum of Fine Art as well as a gallery in Crestview and Estelle Studio and Gallery here in Freeport. “My sold works are held in collections in England, Iran, Peru, and multiple U.S. states.” Locally, numerous churches in the area display Charlotte’s art, including a painting in the sanctuary of the Portland United Methodist Church that is one of Charlotte’s favorites.

 

Charlotte’s work is currently on exhibit in the Makers Mill Gallery, Somerset, KY. Her home is open to anyone interested in viewing her work at 52 Brighton Cove. Charlotte also takes commissions and will work with clients to give them what they want within their budget restraints. Please call in advance to arrange a time to visit. Or email: parrishstudiogallery@gmail.com.

 

 

 Charlotte’s best learning experience:

As a child living on the banks of the Kentucky River, I tried over and over and over again to paint that muddy brown river with reflections of autumn's colorful trees within that gluey brown water. I learned more about color than any teacher could ever teach and threw away plenty of attempts before getting it right.

 

I was doing quick work over the top of an abstract in which I suddenly saw the outline of Christ holding a lamb in His arms. In the gallery where it was displayed, a man shared that he had been in a coma after an accident, and this was the Jesus he saw while in a coma. He bought the painting.