Water color on paper, 11" x 14"

Chuck Bauer is drawn to subjects with a domestic or a natural theme, and he uses conventional approaches that covey nostalgia and tranquility. Not afraid of color, or experimentation, however, his early training as an abstract painter still fuels his current approach to realistic topics; he seeks solid composition, but also playful and perhaps sometimes unexpected results. In painting, he believes, you have to balance your thinking: employing not too much or too little; thus, seeking to keep both the painter, and the viewer, intrigued, excited, entertained.

Quote from Chuck Bauer:

"My father was in the military and I grew up worldwide, with several years in Asia, and many more in Europe. Our family always explored the cultures we were in, and my mother took art classes, and sometimes I would go along. In school I was comfortable with academics, but really loved art best.

I have been painting since college (B.F.A., 1969 Ohio Wesleyan University, and M.A., UW Madison, 1970), and seriously since 1981 when I moved to rural Blanchardville, Wisconsin and began to paint outside (en plein air) as much as I could.

I enjoy switching between water and oil painting media, though I have experimented with both sculpture and mosaic. My inspiration arises
from a desire to capture the moment, the light, or some other hard to define compositional element that attracts my attention. For me the immediate subject matter is not the primary meaning of the work, and I always try to look deeper."