We were lucky to catch up with Charlotte Terrell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Charlotte, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I grew up in a small town in Mississippi (Tennessee Williams’s birthplace) with a wonderful art school, and the university students took me, a young tween, under their wing by mentoring me and showing me the skills they were learning in school, typically in dormitory hallways. When it was time to go to university, I picked a creative career, landscape architecture, which gave me a background in design. As a bonus, the curriculum also included art history classes.
At this point, my interests were more towards design than art, which would later develop once I began a side gig to my landscape architecture career as a decorative painter. Decorative painting was burgeoning in the 80s, and Trompe-l’œil and faux finishing to depict wood and marble were hugely popular.
In hindsight, it’s easy to see how these experiences played an important role in my work today. Through landscape architecture, I developed a passion for 19th-century landscapes and gardens that became the subject of my art when I began painting fine art. I wouldn’t change the trajectory of my career as it wouldn’t exist without all of those collective experiences, which are evident in my art.
The most essential skill I’ve learned along the way is developing my professionalism when working with designers, galleries, and clients responsibly. Finding the passion for the subject matter and understanding techniques and materials was the easy part, but understanding that I’m also running a business is a skill I’ve had to cultivate over time. Learning this skill often stood in the way because I was concentrating on making sales instead of the painting itself, which of course, is how I make sales. It’s all about finding that happy medium.
Charlotte, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My first exposure to the beauty of art was through my parents’ collection, which they began as newlyweds while stationed in post-World War II Munich. Growing up in Columbus, Mississippi, I was drawn to the historic architecture, gardens, and character of antebellum homes that had survived the Civil War. My father fostered my interest in horticulture and built a solarium greenhouse onto my bedroom. This influenced my later studies at the University of Georgia and Parsons School of Design, where I studied landscape architecture. When I began my career as a director of the revitalization of New York City’s green spaces, I got to apply my interests and education to restoring signature landscapes. In 2005 I turned my focus towards fine art painting and custom mural wallcoverings.
I paint idealized landscapes that are fictional places intended to be universally familiar to the viewer, a present moment in time. However, I want my clients to feel like my artwork is personal to them so they have an intimate connection with the work. I’ll pour over photos of their family home or an image they saved from a trip somewhere special to serve as inspiration for their commission. I want them to feel seen in my art. The most interesting part of my work is learning how much it means to my clients or onlookers and the kind letters they write about the emotions my paintings evoke in them.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The actual doing of the work and the tactile material of the nature of the painting. I love the tactile nature of working in plaster, the labor of polishing it smooth, the pooling of juicy paint, and pouring glossy translucent glazes over the surface. Especially with commissions, I have the opportunity to have the client react to the work, hear how their emotional needs are met, and see the excitement of their vision come to fruition.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I first started in decorative painting, I considered myself a muralist and would hand-paint client’s bedrooms, powder rooms, and kitchens. When I pivoted to fine art and found my success, clients remembered my murals and consistently asked that I paint my landscapes onto walls.
I wanted to meet the new demand without returning to hand-painting murals. And that is how I got into the business of printing custom murals. It was a major labor of love with the help and expertise of a local printer in town. They possessed a scanner that was large enough to scan my paintings and print directly onto wallpaper. I still get to paint in the comfort and convenience of my studio while also delivering a product that is custom and specific to the client. In the five years that I’ve been offering my custom wall murals, I’m beginning to garner more recognition from them than my commissioned paintings.
Contact Info:
- Website: charlotteterrell.com
- Instagram: @charlotteterrell
Image Credits
Leslee Mitchell Andrea Ley Deborah Michelle Allison Elefante