Biography:
I grew up near Portland, Oregon, received a Bachelor's degree in physics from Portland State University, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado. For thirty years I taught physics, astronomy and the occasional beginning computer-programming course at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. I retired in 2006. During my physics career I had articles published in Sky & Telescope Magazine (two), the Journal of the Astro Space Stamp Society, the Proceedings of the Colonial Shore Bird Society, the Journal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American Journal of Physics, to name a few.
I bought canvases and oil painting gear when I was in college and created several truly horrible oil paintings; thankfully none have survived. In the meantime every four to six years I created a few more very mundane paintings, only a few of which survive. A year after I retired from teaching I figured out some of what I was doing wrong with my painting and started producing classical realism paintings. I have no formal training in art, but I have been fortunate enough to have visited a number of the great art museums of the world and seen examples of the finest paintings.
My wife and I have traveled extensively in the past twenty-five years, mostly to somewhat less developed countries with exotic sights and people, and I have documented our adventures with photographs. (With a little brushing up I can say “hello” in ten languages, including English, and “Where is the toilet?” in eight.) I paint mostly from my travel photographs, picking the subject matter because it offers something I think I will enjoy painting.
Or, for those easily bored:
I retired from teaching at the end of the 2006 season, and now have so much stuff to do that I wonder how I had time for work before I retired; writing my “bio” was not on my list. For 30 years I had a weekly radio show where we play rock and roll music from the 50s & 60s, and I know a lot of “moldy oldie” trivia. I bought a book some years ago and taught myself how to juggle, but it's been so long I can't juggle anymore (or find the book). At one time I could solve the Rubik's Cube without having read a book on how to solve the Rubik’s cube. With a little brushing up I can say “hello” in ten languages, including English, and “Where is the toilet?” in eight. I know how to ride the public buses in Hangzhou, China, and go anyplace in the city I want. I can faux-paint marble with either my left or my right hand; it does not matter. I still can't whistle, but it does not bother me anymore. I hate people who drive SUVs, vans, or pickup trucks, even though I don’t personally know them; I'm old, and it’s my right. I own a cell phone, but it is always off. I snorkel, but don't scuba. I have snorkeled with Humpback Whales north of the DR. I brush, but don't floss. I have discovered that much of what my mother told me was wrong; I now regularly go out in the rain without a coat, and have not caught my “death-by-cold”. I have published articles in "Sky & Telescope Magazine" (two), the "Journal of the Astro Space Stamp Society", the "Proceedings of the Colonial Shore Bird Society", the "Journal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers", "Physical Review Letters", and the "American Journal of Physics", to name a few. I don't play hand ball anymore--—never did. I own several Hohner 1896/20 Marine Band Harmonicas, the finest blues harmonicas in the universe. I regularly cook with Sriracha Thai chili sauce, and often use three hot sauces in the same dish. My neighbors consult me on color selection for their home decorating projects, and I own my own color chip book; I still prefer oil base paints and love bright colors. I have seen the canals on Mars, and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. I can no longer hear in my right ear. I am fluent in Java and Python --not Javascript. I can program Arduino compatable microcontrollers; my favorite is the ESP32. I hate Bill Gates for what he has done to computer software, and curse him and his family from this generation to the next to the end of time. In the past I watched Cops on TV at least once a day; "Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha' gonna do?" But my favorite show is South Park; I ate lunch in South Park and have driven across Wolf Creek Pass. I own about a dozen oriental rugs, mostly small. I have a cardiologist who speaks Chinese.
I have had a number of my paintings accepted into juried shows in Oneonta and Cooperstown, New York, winning:
• a Jurist Citation at the 2017 82nd Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Cooperstown Art Association,
• the Grand Prize at the 2015 80th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the
Cooperstown Art Association.
• a Jurist Citation at the 2013 78th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Cooperstown Art Association,
• the Viewers' Choice at the 2012 77th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Cooperstown Art Association,
• the Grand Prize and the Viewers' Choice (two separate paintings) at the 2011 76th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Cooperstown Art Association,
• a Jurist Citation at the 2009 74th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Cooperstown Art Association, and
• the Grand Prize at 2009 Mansion Regional Juried Art Show at the Art Council of Oneonta.
My work has been exhibited:
Continuously since 2009 at the Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts Gallery in Binghamton, NY, where I also had my first solo exhibition March 2010.
• Art Wynwood, Miami, 2020
• Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show, Palm Beach, 2019
• PTOWN POP-UP, Clark Gallery, Provincetown, 2019
• Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, 2019
• SOFA Sculpture Objects Functional Art & Design, Chicago, 2018
• Group Show, Anthony Brunell Fine Arts, Binghamton, 2018
• Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York City, Group Show, "Size Doesn't Matter", 2017
• R. Michelson Galleries, Northampton, MA, 2016
• Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA, 2015,
• Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL, 2014.
• ArtHamptons Fine Arts Fair, Hamptons, 2014.
• Clark Gallery in Lincoln, MA, 2013 & 2014,
• Art Hamptons Fine Arts Fair, Hamptons, 2013
• Group Show, Anthony Brunell Fine Arts, Binghamton, 2013
• Group Show, Anthony Brunell Fine Arts, Binghamton, 2012
• SeaFair Art Greenwich, Greenwich, CT, September 2012 and May 2012,
• Roads to Realism, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, April 2012.
• Group Show, Anthony Brunell Fine Arts, Binghamton, 2011
• Group Show, Anthony Brunell Fine Arts, Binghamton, 2010
• Group Show, Anthony Brunell Fine Arts, Binghamton, 2009
• Viviana Hansen Gallery in Delhi, NY.
Charles Hartley
April 2017
