In an art scene dominated by regional western art, Bozeman painter Charles Lewis takes a different direction. “I don’t have a painting theme,” he says. “I paint antique toys, electric guitars, imaginary shamans, and just about anything else that leaps into my art brain. Montana has so many great painters of Western themes, and I’m astonished by their talent and skill, but I wander into other areas altogether.”

Charles began painting as a child in Denver, when he got a paint-by-numbers kit as a Christmas present. Charles notes, “I quickly started ignoring the lines, blending colors from one area to the next. Oil paint was just the best! Much later, my imaginary planetary landscapes full of radioactive mutant creatures attracted attention, but didn’t exactly match buyers’ tastes in 1980s Denver, which were more in line with the traditional western art of cowboys, Indians and mountain landscapes.”

Charles takes his inspiration from the European surrealists, artists of the naïve and outsider traditions, as well as folk art from around the world. He works in the traditional oil paint medium, creating highly detailed visions that emerge from his active imagination. “I love the whole oil painting process: underpainting, blending, and mixing and overlaying color on color—sometimes translucent, sometimes opaque, but always interesting. My restless, creative side breaks out when the sun goes down. I love daylight and the outdoors; I drink up color like a sponge, but my art brain kicks in after dark. I paint at night. All kinds of things happen under those bright lights in my studio.”

Check out Charles’ intriguing work at charleslewisart.com—as he says, “It’s not for timid souls.”