Page 3 - cn biography 01-01-2025

As Neal worked in the Impressionist mode, his response to ‘en plein air’ painting intuitively furthered his ability to handle paint and to
evolve the sense of visual poetry in the composition. This advancement naturally took place as he strove to capture nature’s fleeting moments
and energy. Albeit that Neal’s brushwork was influenced by Van Gogh’s use of directional brushstrokes, which so powerfully defined
inter-relating planes and the depiction of movement and energy in natural growth.

The complexity of planes within a scene, the patterns and shapes, the effects of perspective and light, has required Neal to continually
experiment and invent his own unique brushwork, surface treatment and compositional formats.

As Charles Neal stated in an introduction to his 2004‘Evolving Perceptions’ exhibition catalogue, held at Campbell’s of London gallery..
‘The act of painting ;that process of relating and expressing the world and its many facets through one’s own internal perception, induces an
enquiry and search for further developing and refining ways of portraying subject matter’. ‘As one proceeds through life, one’s values,
priorities and perceptions are ever changing and evolving.

A career in painting promotes changes in style ,treatment and subject interest; the work therefore becomes a marker for the artist’s act of
seeing’.

During the 1990’s Neal started to paint in series of paintings culminating in thematic exhibitions. The perception of these works was to
engage with a particular subject theme, in order to extend the painting experience by allowing the subject to influence composition and
technique in a more expressive form.

The first french landscape thematic exhibition held in 1992 at Campbell’s gallery, entitled ‘Bretagne’ was a series of works portraying the
ancient farm ‘Richelour’ and the surrounding valley between Le Samedy and Abbaye-Langonnet.
Here Neal was interested in the place, in terms of its history and the present ambience.

This approach to landscape has been carried forward throughout his work, wherein the present is captured with echoes of the past.
The first garden series was entitled ‘The Painted Garden’, the exhibition was held in 1994 at the Museum of Garden History London through
Astley House fine Art. The collection of works portrayed the garden of the renowned plants woman , Rosemary Verey. The painting period
was over three years in order to capture the garden in all the seasons. The garden subject was a departure from landscape painting. Neal had
to develop a new painting technique and subsequent language, to convey the colour rhythms and growth patterns of the planting.

In 2003 Charles Neal joined Wally Findlay Galleries . Subsequently Neal has painted further thematic series of works that have been
incorporated in gallery exhibitions or as special events linked to The National Trust, The Royal Horticultural Society, Surrey Wildlife
Trust,The National Rowing Museum, Henley and the Docklands Museum London.
The Blenheim Foundation. The National Trust through the Royal Oak Foundation.

Belvoir Castle Estate American Foundation.