Charlie Paynter
Viking Ship
2015

About the Item

Charlie Paynter Viking Ship Mixed Media, Found Objects, Metal, Plex, Leather, Wood Year: 2015 Size: 16x19x11in Signed by hand COA provided Ref.: 24802-1746 Tags: Playful, Bottle Opener, Plex, Sailor, Outsider Art, corky, airy, breezy, buoyant, debonair, jaunty Charlie Paynter was born in Kansas City in 1938, graduated from Paseo High School. He was employed at the Kansas City Star for 55 years, where he worked in the mailing room and other positions, and for the 10 years before his retirement was in charge of supplies. He has won every employee service and customer satisfaction award that the Star provided. He became friends with an art dealer, Susan Lawrence, and began accompanying her to museums, art galleries, and openings and other art-related events. He had the opportunity to see what artists could do, and often said: “I could do that, or better.” He retired from the Kansas City Star in 2008 and began making sculptures from his vast (over 6000) collection of bottle openers that he had been collecting since around 1991. He has made little character sculptures and two-dimensional wall pieces from bottle openers, wire, and found and recycled objects that he gets from friends and finds at thrift stores. He has made a series of local musicians. Whenever there is a wedding, he makes sculpture for the bride and groom. He has worked on a series of all the states. He has made a group of scenes from the Bible. He had made many building facades and a series based on the alphabet. "I retired in 2008 after working over 50 years at the Kansas City Star and I began making sculptures from my vast (over 6000) collection of bottle openers. In the past, I had shows of these three-dimensional sculptures made of bottle openers and two-dimensional wall pieces from bottle openers, wire, and found and recycled objects that I got from friends and found at thrift stores. These wall pieces had evolved a long way from the little bottle opener characters I started with. I like to challenge myself to see if I can do something new and different. I’ve gotten away from using so many bottle openers. I still use found and recycled objects in my work. And I use lots of wire, glue, and spray paint. An art critic said that I use the wire to draw with. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I think it is true. I get ideas for my artwork from buildings and landmarks in Kansas City and from my many trips across the United States, places such as Cape Cod, New Orleans, New Mexico, and the wind farms in Western Kansas. I also get ideas from talking to people, things in the news, and on TV. And just from my imagination. I guess that’s what being an artist is."

Creator:

Charlie Paynter (1938, American)

Creation Year:

2015

Dimensions:

Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)Depth: 11 in (27.94 cm)

Medium:

Metal,Leather,Plexiglass,Wood,Found Objects,Mixed Media

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

2010-