About Charley

Charley was born Charles Burton Harper, in Frenchton, West Virginia on August 4, 1922. He graduated from, and taught art at, the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he met wife, Edie, also an artist. The two married in 1947 after graduating.

In the 1950's Harper gained acclaim as a commercial illustrator with "The Golden Book of Biology" and "Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two cookbook." Over the ensuing two decades he contributed to the Ford Motor Company's magazine, Ford Times. The response to this work was so positive, it led to his silkscreen print business reproducing those images. Charley's paintings have appeared in nature-oriented magazines and on posters for many conservation-minded organizations, among them the National Park Service, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Nature Center, Hamilton County (Ohio) Park District, the Michigan Audubon Society, and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania. Besides "The Golden Book of Biology" he has illustrated "The Animal Kingdom", Birds & Words"; and "Beguiled by the Wild; The Art of Charley Harper."

source: charleyharper.com

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