Hello

I’m Charlie Jamieson, an abstract painter based in Bristol, UK.

My work is rooted in the everyday joy of being alive - the fleeting, ordinary moments that quietly add up to a meaningful life. A swim at sunset, the warmth of sunlight on my skin, wildflowers at the edge of a path, a good cup of tea. My paintings are my attempt to hold onto these moments, translating feeling and sensation into colour, texture, and movement.

I’m self-taught and began painting in 2022 after my mum suffered a stroke. Following her death, painting became both a refuge and a gift - a way of staying close to life, and of celebrating what remains. That experience sharpened my attention to joy: not as something grand or constant, but as something found, gathered, and returned to again and again. That impulse sits at the heart of my practice.

Alongside emotion, my background in archaeology and anthropology subtly informs my work. I’m fascinated by humanity’s long history of mark-making, and echoes of ancient symbols - zigzags, lines, and crosses - often surface in my paintings, alongside abstracted landscapes shaped by time and human presence.

My process is intuitive and layered. Working with mixed media, I build, scrape back, and rework surfaces over time, allowing each painting to evolve without a fixed plan. A piece feels finished when a title emerges - often a single word or phrase that captures the feeling I’ve been circling.

At their core, my paintings are acts of attention. They are memory banks of joy, resilience, and hope - inviting viewers to slow down, notice what’s already here, and feel a little more alive.