| Biography
Continued...
Charles'
parents met at an ad agency in Los Angeles. His mother (Elizabeth)
had just graduated from UCLA as an art major. She was working at
this ad agency when she heard about a hotshot illustrator (Charles
Wysocki) that was coming in to do some freelance work for them.
Well, when they met, it was love at first site. His mother’s
family was one of the firsts to settle in the San Fernando Valley.
His father was enamored by the simplicity of this farm life and
wholesome values. This was a major turning point for my father.
This influence is what started his whole primitive style that we all
know and love. Just think what would have happened if he would
have met the wrong lady. Yikes! His parents were married
three months after they met, in July 1960. Don’t worry, their
first child was not born for another five years. This wasn’t a
shotgun marriage. During this time my parents made several trips
to the East Coast. They went antique shopping and visited places
such as Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod, Boston, Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine. At this time, commercial art was becoming a
lot less interesting for Charles. In
1972 his father started his relationship with AMCAL. Together they
published the first Americana Calendar. It has been in production
ever since. AMCAL has been licensing his images on various
products for close to 30 years. Some of these products include:
puzzles, collector plates, trivets, serving trays, popcorn tins, cards,
sculptures, magnets, wallpaper, blankets, mugs, photo frames, stamps,
and T-shirts to name a few. Then in 1979, he published his first
limited edition print “Fox Run” with The Greenwich Workshop.
He also traveled around the country and made personal appearances at
galleries all over the United States. He won many awards for his
work including one he is most proud of, receiving the medal of honor
from the National Society Daughter’s of the American Revolution, the
society’s highest national honor. Charles also published two
books during this time, “An American Celebration” in 1985 and
“Heartland” in 1993. He also appeared in People magazine July
7, 1986, and was invited to the White House Independence Day celebration
in 1981 (for which he did a painting that supposedly still hangs there). In 1993 he went from working for two different publishers (AMCAL and The Greenwich Workshop) to just working for AMCAL. His schedule was too stressful, and the deadlines too severe to really enjoy himself. Being the perfectionist he is, his paintings never suffered, but he was working 15 hour days, six days a week. Enough! He published all his items through AMCAL, including his limited edition prints from 1994-1999. During this five-year period he produced some of his most treasured pieces. Four in the cat series (Mabel, Maggie, Max and Elmer and Loretta) as well as such pieces as Olde Bucks County, Hound of the Baskervilles, and the list goes on. |