ArtistsToronto

Charis
Brown-Tobias

A Toronto-based artist, Charis has a diploma in graphic design (honours), a diploma in cartooning and related arts and has studied part-time at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

While earning her living running her own graphic design business and at times as an instructor, Charis painted for personal expression and for her own satisfaction while experimenting and developing her skills as an artist over the past 20 years.

The repeated encouragement of others prompted her to finally offer her work for sale. Her first public exhibition was at her Open Studio show and sale in December 2004. Since then her work has been shown in various venues in both group and solo exhibitions. Charis has sold numerous paintings which are now in private collections all across Canada, and in Switzerland and Australia.

ARTIST STATEMENT
I am always fascinated with the human story that all of us are living — often untold, sometimes unrecognized, but always significant. In my art, I have been focused on the hints of ones’ story, rather than an obvious narrative or explanation. I have painted in a representational figurative style in the past, the subjects only partially shown, but with very crisp detail.

Recently, I have been pushing past the earlier representational boundaries I set, now using broader strokes and fewer obviously human figures, while intensifying human presence and emotion. What goes unnamed remains very intriguing to me.

Vibrant colours communicate vitality and drama, and give me joy. The bold style reflects my background in graphic design. Portraying single ideas or moods without excessive elaboration, my paintings capture fragments of stories, characters or scenes.

EMAIL
charis@charisgraphicdesign.ca

WEB
www.charis.ca