Milly Charles

Milly Charles was born in New York City into a theater family who moved often for work, so she grew up in Woodstock, NY, NYC, Boston and Paris spending hours drawing and painting wherever the family moved. Some of her earliest exposure to art was spending long days drawing in museums throughout Europe. Dance, theater, poetry and visual arts have been her life since childhood. Each of these disciplines have enriched the whole of her artistic life. 

Milly worked for many years in the theater as an actor, dancer and choreographer. Her art practice and art studies continued throughout as a guilty pleasure that she did “on the side” for the joy of it.   

When she had her daughter, Maia, and became a single mom, she became very interested in early childhood education and started Lily Pad Preschool which she ran for 12 years in Los Angeles. When the pandemic hit, her preschool closed and all the artistic yearning to create art came surging back. The day the preschool closed she turned it into her art studio, put up her easel and started collaging—and hasn’t looked back. She’s now gratefully making art full time.

Lately I'm drawn to creating images of nature, animals, women and children living in harmony.  The vision of  people living in harmony with their environments is compelling. I want to capture everyday moments that are sacred and beautiful. 

I love all forms of art: drawing, painting, collaging. For the last five years I’ve been primarily collaging. Paper is a fascinating medium to work in. There are so many kinds of paper from plain brown wrapping to beautiful handmade papers from Japan and Korea. These handmade papers are already works of art, with stories in them of rock and water and human hands. The colors, textures, tones and patterns invite me into a world where cultures intersect.

As I work on each collage I find a deep connection to the subject whether it is a landscape, an animal, a person, or an abstract pattern – a love develops. Paper is a material of the natural world, it contains within it the sun, wind, and rain. The paper is an organic bridge to all other forms of nature—mountains, ocean, people, animals, rock, sky—all made of the same stuff. I hope that these collages stir a longing for wholeness, connection, freedom and peace.

Milly Charles

Mailing address: 86 Piermont Avenue, Nyack, NY 10960 / Ph: 310-210-8482

Website: millycharles.com

instagram: @milly_charles_art

Email: millycharlesart@icloud.com

Exhibitions

2024-25 Group exhibition, Winter Salon, Perry Lawson Gallery, Nyack, NY

2023 Group exhibition, Artists and Makers Fair, Woodstock Artists Association  and Museum, Woodstock, NY 

Commissions

Theater for New Works, Step Right Up Ma’am, Overture Theater, Madison, WI 

(3) 24x36” collages transferred to (3) 48x72” banners as set pieces

Collections 

Private Collection, Woodstock, NY

Private Collection, Chevy Chase, MD

Private Collection, Maplewood, NJ

Private Collection, Madison, WI

Private Collection, Los Angeles, CA

Education

1975-78 Drawing and Painting Nicholas Buhalis, Woodstock, NY 

1980-83 Drawing and Painting The Art Students League of NY, NYC

1999-2004 Oil Painting, Mixed Media, Otis College of Art and Design, L.A., CA 

NY

U.S.A.