Charles Maher

Biography

Charles T. Maher BA (Hons) Born Birmingham 1946 Artists Statement After spending most of my working life as an Engineer in the automotive and aerospace industries and running my own business and having always being interested in art, it was not until 2000 that I found time to take up painting; since then I have completed a Diploma in Art and Design at UCE Bourneville Birmingham, specialising in Fine Art & Printmaking Graduated with a BA (Hons) Painting degree (UCA London) through the Open College of Arts. Whilst in Birmingham I regularly exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, the Water Orton, Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield art societies. A landscape painter at heart I paint both figuratively and in abstraction depending on what aspect of landscape I want to depict, I am very much influenced by the artistic visual language of landscape, ‘secret places’ and ‘sense of place’, and find myself drawn particularly to the magical quality of trees and woodland; ‘the heart and lungs of landscape’ often seen as the visual launching pads for artistic visual metaphors. Landscape is all about perception and interpolation, to invoke and inject ‘sensory perception of time and space, and a sense of ‘being’ derived from the geological and topographical aspects of landscape. Working in direct response to nature taking inspiration from site-specific locations responding by combining other influences of, surrealism, gothic architecture and symbolism taken from ancient lands and forested landscapes while concerning myself with rendering anonymity of place, imbued with a sense of secrecy and melancholy. My abstract paintings are derived from abandonment of subject matter, considering line, geometric and geological forms, colour and spatial context. It is these specific intrinsic qualities of poetic intimacy which is combined with a sense of human presence that these artists instil, through their interpretations of landscape that is in a sense, quintessentially English. Exhibitions The Dorset Arts & Crafts Exhibition: – Bovington, 2007, 2008 &2011 Joint exhibition with Avril Larsson at: ‘The Mulberry Gallery’ Weymouth Library 2008. Solo Exhibition @ Highcliffe Castle near Christchurch Dorset Nov 2009 entitled, “Fleeting Moments… from the Jurassic Coast”. Portland Arts Centre Exhibition 2009 Bridport Art Society Exhibitions 2009- 2016 inc. Since 2009: Artwey and DAW Exhibitions 2017 Solo degree Show White Stone Cafe/Gallery Easton Portland Dorset As well as offering a variety of paintings and original Collograph prints for sale, Charles is happy to accept commissions for landscapes/ seascapes, animal & people portraits. charlestmaherblog.wordpress.com Email: [email protected]