Charna has been an artist all her life. In her youth she was into painting, copper enameling, beading and even making clothes for consignment stores. Following high school, she studied watercolor and acrylic painting. While pursuing her degree in Fine Arts, she also explored other mediums such as ceramics, drawing, and sculpture. Her love of nature drew her to carving in marble, granite, slate and other natural stone. She then fell in love with mosaic work. Using ceramic tile and glass, she integrated carved marble, granite, and other stone into beautiful mosaics to achieve a unique and rich style. She took her style another step further by incorporating fused glass. Glass fusion became another passion and she started creating objects such as tableware, wall hangings and a line of incredible jewelry. Her jewelry will be on display during “Open Studios/Open Walls” at the Sanchez Art Gallery this December.
Charna traveled to Pietrasanta, Italy last fall to carve marble for a month with some resident masters using modern air chisels and ancient point machetes for an extraordinary sculptured horse bust piece. She also had the sculpture bronzed in Pietrasanta and has two copies. One is a beautiful grey horse with blue eyes and the other is a chestnut with green eyes. Charna also toured glass fabrication studios in Venice and Murano during her stay.
“One of the most rewarding reasons why I continue on my path as an artist, even though there are intense struggles and sacrifices that are a part of the reality of this profession is how art can positively affect people. This year I created a beautiful mosaic of a woman holding a child with Mount Killamanjaro in sunset for Killimani Nursery School in Moshi, Tanzania. I traveled with it to Africa in July 2007. It was an incredible experience letting go of this mosaic, which is the most beautiful one I have ever created. It was immensely rewarding especially since no one in this area of Africa had ever seen mosaic work before.”
Charna currently teaches painting, mosaics, beading and glass fusion to adults and children in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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