About Charlie

Charlie McGee started her relationship with painting when she moved to Whiteville, N.C. with her husband, Phil, and their 3 children, Philip, Samantha, and Hunter. When they first moved there, it was coming up on Christmas and she didn't really know anyone there yet. Charlie decided to take up a hobby. That is when the love affair started with painting, and is still going strong 15 years later.

She started getting a bit more serious with her painting while living on Wrightsville Beach, N.C. She has shared her story with many about how she kept trying to grow a flower garden on the beach and she just couldn't get it to survive. So, she decided to just paint herself a rock garden, and that she did.

Before long , friends were asking her to paint things for them, and they were even offering to pay her for them. Then she picked up some books, One Stroke painting books, and it became her method of choice. She would sit for hours and practice, took classes, and then finally decided to go a step farther and become a Certified Instructor for Donna Dewberry and the One Stroke Company.

Since then, she has continued to travel to training camp for instructors, has attended the conventions that Dewberry Designs has each year, and has also been certified to level 2 with the company.

Painting has become a family thing. Charlie loves to paint with her mother, Nancy, and they do craft shows together a few times a year. Sometimes Sheri, her sister, will also do some painting and join them at the shows.

Charlie and her mother now display their art at Charlie's Studio, which is in Hampstead, N.C. Charlie opened the studio in June of this year, and considers herself very fortunate to be able to get up and go to work and do something that she really loves. She is also able to take her dog, Jewels, to work with her every day.

Charlie offers lessons on the One Stroke painting, but she offers many other things too. She really enjoys doing water color batiks, and is always looking for new students. She also has an embroidery machine in her studio, plenty of scrap booking materials, and many other arts and crafts items.

She carries antiques in her studio, and loves growing her collection. She also carries a line of retail items. One of the collections is called "By the Sea," which features nautical dinner and serving ware, plaques, candles, picture frames, vases and much more! She also just received her Christmas line of retail which also consists of dinner and serving ware, ornaments and cookie jars to bring in the holiday spirit!