Here I find my balance, as it were". Around him Charles finds a pulse in the gentle pounding of water, the salty ocean air, and in the tall reeds that brush against each other with the repetitive rhythm of motion and sound.
The pathway in the back of the house meanders to the right where tomatoes hang over the wooden structure that prevents them from touching the ground. All around us the sweet scent of basil fills the air as Charles tends to his second passion, gardening. The director of design and on air promotion for NBC Television for 12 years, Charles is now devoting virtually all of his time to painting, organizing exhibitions, his house, gardening and watching over his two cats who watch him, from every window of the house, as he walks around his property.
As Charles approaches the house, a rush of emotion fills his mind as he steps into the studio, where in the act of painting, he will re-discover who he is today. He will sit at the sundrenched table that is crammed with glass jars filled to the brim with paintbrushes, and half squeezed tubes of acrylics. He will walk to the left wall where a stack of stretched canvases act as reassurance that there, in this space, he will confront the very nature of his own reality.
A dozen or so mixed media, figurative paintings overlap and occupy nearly every corner of the studio. Many of the highly structured and textured surfaces contain symbols of Blake's physical environment with metal reeds, chains and found objects that incessantly enforce verve and veracity. Paintings of men, women and children, some of whom are dressed in turn of the century clothing, gaze out; each is poised in a staged narrative that engages the viewer with a haunting, enigmatic longing; providing a poignant window into the very meaning of their existence.
- Angela Di Bello