“Even from the very beginning, I was creating things,” said local artist Charlotte White, on her childhood. “What I do is kind of capture moments in time in paintings.”
Many art lovers feel that White is a pillar in the art community. Not only are her watercolor and pastel paintings shown at the Ocean Gallery in Cayucos and the Gallery of Art in the East Hills Mall, she has taught art in Venezuela and at an Indian reservation in South Dakota.
According to White, she met her now deceased husband, Frank, in Venezuela. “We came back to the states and ended up in Bakersfield.”
In Kern County, White has painted places such as the Fox Theater, Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, California Living Museum, Cal State’s amphitheater, and the front of the Kern County Fair.
“I like the architecture because I’m very linear,” said White, “I like to do a lot of drawing and architecture lends itself to that.”
Not only does White paint for her own pleasure, she paints for businesses such as Dewar’s, Jerry’s Pizza, Guthrie’s Alley Cat, and 24th Street CafÇ. “I’m on the menu,” said White.
“Sometimes what happens is that the customers will use the painting in their advertising,” claims White.
White also has avid collectors, such as Mayor Harvey Hall and the Centennial Medical Group.
In fact, White plans to paint for Dr. Johnson, who works for the Centennial Medical Group, a collection of 13 paintings chronicling his life.
Not only does White juggle painting for pleasure and teaching art at Liberty High School, she is show chairperson for the Bakersfield Art Association. She organizes all art shows for the association.
“This gallery [Gallery of Art] is part of the Bakersfield Art Association,” said White. The gallery showcases about 30 artists at a time.
According to White, the association offers classes, workshops, speakers, and meetings every second Saturday of each month.
There was a show and membership only painting contest on Oct. 13. “[It] encourages people, which we consider a closet painter, [.] to come out and show us what they’ve been doing.”