About
Charles Seligman can still remember when he
first was attracted to expressing himself through art. It was 1939 and
he was five years old, discovering the joys of finger painting
in the basement of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFA). Today - Charles is still putting his feelings on canvas, for his own
enjoyment as well as that of his many
patrons. Charles art career has survived more than a few detours along
the way. His exposure to art classes came to a halt when the family
moved from Houston to Baytown in 1948. After graduating from that city's
Robert E. Lee High School, he went on to Southern Methodist University
in Dallas where he studied business administration for five years.
Shortly thereafter, Charles was drafted by the army and served in
Bremerhaven, Germany for 18 months. It was during that time on a trip
from Bremerhaven to Olso, Norway with a friend, that Charles' interest
in art was reawakened. "I believe we visited every museum along the
way,"
remembers Charles. "My eyes were opened - it was like seeing and
studying art for the first time." Instead of entering the art world,
however, after his discharge in 1961 he returned
to Baytown to work in the family's successful automobile dealership. He
advanced from sales into management with the goal of an early
retirement. At the age of 40, Charles got his wish - the day he and his
mother sold the controlling
interest in the dealership, he enrolled in the MFA's Glassell School of
art.
The year was 1975, and Charles immersed himself in
classes offered by Glassell. Distinguishing himself as a star pupil who
could fill the canvas with life, his instructors
came to him three years later and said, "Charlie, go home and paint - we
have nothing else to teach you." HIs second career had begun. Taking his
former instructors' directive to heart, Charles has since devoted his
efforts full-time to artistic expression using combinations of mediums
- canvas, paper and mixed media projects. Large scale canvasses however,
are where the scope of his creativity is most
evident. Here, with the generous use of paint, he works with a
combination of palette knives, brushes and even his fingers when the
spirit moves him. The results are powerful
abstract images. He has developed a following of patrons and has sold
his art from his studio for over the last 28 years. His works can be
found in the homes and businesses of discriminating collectors worldwide, who appreciate his abstract works of art
for the energy and emotion they portray.