Great Falls man earns aspiring artist award      Back to Articles
March 13, 2006
By SONJA LEE Tribune Staff Writer

For the first time in the history of the C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art, a Great Falls artist earned the Ralph Tuffy Berg Award.

Charles Fulcher will be honored at the annual art show as the top emerging artist at the auction.

Named for the Great Falls sculptor who died in 1991, the "Tuffy" Berg award is the jurors' choice for best aspiring artist. It is given only to first-time auction participants.

Fulcher, 46, has two pieces in the auction: "Under a Yellow Canopy" and "Cool Summer Trees," both oils on canvas.

Fulcher, who has been painting since 2003, is humbled by the recognition.

"The jurors said I had a different, unique style that they hadn't seen," he said.

Fulcher said he paints "backwards." He starts with a black canvas and creates.

"It tends to make everything have a little more depth to it," he said. "And it doesn't always stay true to the colors of nature."

His work has been described as expressionistic rather than impressionistic.

His painting "Under a Yellow Canopy," a large oil, depicts stunning fall colors draping over a mountain stream.

As he created the piece, his heart was beating, and he was having fun, he said.

"It painted itself," he said. "There wasn't a wrong stroke."

Inspiration for his artwork often comes from the time he spends outdoors.

Fulcher, the owner of Lodestone Advertising, grew up in Great Falls.

"This has been a dream of a lifetime," Fulcher said. "I started drawing at 16, and I always wanted to be in the auction. It was like, if you are in the Russell Auction art show you are somebody."

He attended Montana State University and earned a degree in graphic design.

"I'm very lucky," he said. "I've been an artist my whole life."

He took a class from Great Falls artist Tom English to learn the basics. Fulcher, who also is first vice president of the Great Falls Ad Club, said he always wanted to paint, but was discouraged when he didn't "see" art the same way his contemporaries did. Three years ago he started painting.

"I decided to paint the way I wanted to paint," Fulcher said.

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