Charlotte Hamilton Spotlight

 
 

Charlotte Hamilton is an artist, art teacher, and 100 day participant. In addition to taking a photo every day, she also draws an illustration of herself—taking the 100 day selfie to a new level. We interviewed Charlotte to learn more about her lifelong experience as an artist.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background in art? How long have you been drawing for?

I have been drawing since I was really little. It's been an ongoing love of mine and I've never swayed from wanting to do anything else. Throughout my school years I opted for any subjects that were art based. From high school / secondary school I went to St. Martins School of Art in London, England, and then furthered my art education at an art school in Spain.

I love languages too so this was the perfect opportunity to learn another language. I stayed in Spain for seven years working more in the interior design world, creating murals and faux paint effects for residential homes and commercial businesses.

From Spain my heart took me to Canada, just outside of Toronto, where I have lived for 21 years. Before our girls came into this world I was still completing a lot of interiors and murals for kids, which I love and is really fun to work with on a larger scale.

I adjusted my larger scale work to more illustration and fine art so that I could work from home. Our girls embraced theater while they were in school, and I did help out for a few years painting backdrops for their yearly productions. I started teaching in schools part time and have some online classes available through Sktchy Art School and CreativeBug.


Where did you grow up?

I was born in England. Both my parents immigrated from Scandinavia so our house never felt like the traditional "British" House. Many Scandinavian traditions were brought into our home and we grew up speaking Danish and English in our house.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find my inspiration from everything around me. I love drawing faces and figures. Both of our girls have danced since they were little, so being around them and watching them move inspired me to try and capture them. Nature is probably one of the biggest inspirations in my art. I love creating patterns, and many of them are inspired by shapes in nature. Birds are also a subject which enters my world on a regular basis, landscapes constantly inspire me too, especially how it can transport you to a memory you had when you look at the image created. It becomes a memory etched a little stronger in your mind after you paint or sketch the image.

 
 

How’s your 100 Day Challenge going so far?

Well, I have done a few 100 day challenges, but they have always been art related, so what better way to sketch and paint during my 100 day dress challenge.

I'm not a person who takes a lot of selfies, so I had to think about how I could keep it interesting and create almost a journal of images of me in the Maggie Swing Dress. I still take a daily photo of me in the dress, but you may not be able to see my face, and then I translate that photo crop into an easier way to comprehend the story of me in the dress. Our little pup Piper helps create an extra interest in my drawings and photos. So, I think it's going well so far.


What is something memorable that has happened in the past year?

Actually, it's been a big change in these past two years. Things changed because of Covid. Any art teaching jobs, and all the summer art camps that I had planned for 2020 were scrapped completely. In August 2020 I started teaching online art Zoom classes.

Since Covid in March 2020 I have also been using social media to create an online platform for a daily live class. It was to help others continue a sense of purpose when their whole world had been turned upside down. It's been a blessing, as I have met some beautiful treasured souls from all around the world, who I now call my friends. I am still offering these free, live classes Monday to Friday on my Instagram stories. To accompany this year's live free art classes, I created an art prompt calendar this year which is available for download in my Etsy Shop, so you can follow along month to month creating a small daily piece of art.

Covid has brought a lot of uncertainty, but hopefully my daily art class helps give some comfort of consistency and normality into peoples’ lives.

Mac Bishop