As an artist, Charleen’s first love has always been the world of fine art. A world, which in her case, is dominated by the strong use of color, design and dimensionality. A New York native, she and her husband John moved west to Idaho in 1966. Since 1970, her mixed media paintings and collages have appeared in art shows throughout the West. From 1983 through 1986 she majored in fine art at the Academy of Fine Art in San Francisco.
Diverging from her fine art, but staying within the realm of mixed media and collage, Charleen introduced a line of handmade jewelry to the market place in 1986. As a result of setting up and distributing this jewelry to the retail market, she was able to take advantage and pursue a dream of adding a line of handmade greeting cards in 1988. The all-occasion cards encompassed over 250 designs that included a full holiday selection. In 1992, after being nominated in two categories, she won the "International Louie Award" for the 1991 Easter card of the year. The nominating committee again recognized her efforts in 1993 with two more nominations in the Valentine and Halloween categories. She was one of the top five finalists in both categories. As recognition of her work grew, Charleen was able to expand her endeavors into custom design work for many well known clients and corporations. Her cards have been sold throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan.
Today, Charleen, in trying to adhere to the old adage "Less is More" is focusing in on her love of Mixed Media and Collage as it pertains to her fine art. Her award winning work in mosaic collage, with its contemporary folk art flavor, has been very well received throughout the country.
