A native of Santa Clara, California, Charles H. Pabst was the first of two children born to Edwin & Leota Pabst. His family had an appreciation for all things cultural - art, music and theater, and at an early age Charles picked up his grandmother’s watercolor paints and began painting what he saw.

 Raised in northern California, his early influence was from such painters as Russell Swan, a marine artist that painted Monterey Wharf and Cannery Row. During a trip to the Grand Canyon when he was twelve, Charles became captivated with the Southwest and knew that he would return someday. He came back to Arizona to study art at Arizona State University, where he received his degree in Fine Arts. He still lives in Arizona.

Charles likes to keep his paints clean by using two pallets. He will keep his paints on one, and mix on the other. He uses a combination of pallet knife and brush. Typically he’ll lay in the entire painting’s background and sky first. Then he has to let that dry before he lays in the foreground. It may be days or months later before he gets back to it.  He finishes it off with highlights of light and shadow to bring out the drama in the picture.