- At the Charles Mulvey Exhibit
Last night’s opening of the Charles Mulvey exhibit at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum was great fun. Not only were we surrounded by sixty years of Charlie’s work, but also by his family and friends of almost as long. The champagne and memories flowed.
I was one of the late-comers to Charlie’s life in comparison to many who were there. We didn’t meet until the late 1970s when Gordon Schoewe and Roy Gustafson began “The Picnic Group” – a loosely knit bunch of twelve or fourteen who got together periodically (always on the spur of the moment) to share an impromptu meal. Among the regulars were Pat & Noel Thomas, Betty Newell, Jim & Kaye Buesing, Jeanne Gammel, Dorothy & Chuck Huggins, Gordon & Roy, Charlie & Kaye, us, sometimes Dottie & Lee McHugh and, of course, any ‘visiting firemen.’
Sometimes we gathered on the beach, sometimes at the bay, sometimes in a park, and sometimes, when the weather was ‘inclement,’ at someone’s house. Invariably, as the food and drink were depleted, Charlie and Jim Buesing got to entertaining us all with jokes. They were “clean” jokes as Kaye Mulvey Cowan still remembers, and didn’t contain any four-letter words. But they were hysterical. I don’t know where they came from – it was way before jokes through the internet or email; in the beginning, it was even before PCs.
Whether he was telling a joke or not, Charlie always had a twinkle in his eye and a smile in his voice. His wry humor, often directed at himself, made him fun to be around. And, in his last few years, Charlie and I discovered a special bond – we knew songs that none of the rest did and we enjoyed singing them together – songs like “Johnny Rebec” and “McNamara’s Band” and “Down in the Diving Bell.”
I can’t remember how we discovered this particular interest-in-common. It was at a Friday Night gathering at our house here in Oysterville. Charlie was sitting in the rocking chair near the fireplace – his favorite spot – and I was on the sofa across from him and somehow we got onto those old tunes. Many he had learned as a child from his mother; I had learned them as a child at Camp Willapa. And even though our youth had disappeared decades ago and almost thirty years separated us in age, we both felt like kids again, giggling and trying to remember all the words – having a great time while everybody else stared at us in amazement. It became a ‘regular thing’ and it’s a part of Friday Nights that I will always remember with pleasure, just like I remember Charlie.
My parents fell in love with Charles Mulvey’s work when I was small. I enjoyed going with them to his studio which was not far from my grandparents beach house in Seaview. I enjoyed the shells filled with beach glass that lined the windowsills of his studio. My parents introduced their Boeing Flight Test friends to Mulvey’s work and there was a watercolor in the home of more than one family friend. My mother still has the one she and my father purchased. The frame had to be redone in the 1980s, but the simple beach scene of an old skiff in the sand makes you able to smell the salt air and feel the peace of the beach.
I remember when Mulvey built his house behind the gallery and the tree house for his many children. I also remember when his first wife was murdered. It was such a tragedy. It is lovely that he was able to find another life partner.
I will have to catch his show when I come back to the beach next week. Thanks, Sydney!
The estimate is that Charlie did 50,000 paintings over the course of his career — and sold most of them! The exhibit includes more than 100, beginning in his student days. It is an amazing display!
I grew up in Seaside and went to school with Laura Mulvey. We spent many hours playing in the tree house and swinging on the rope swing that hung from the same tree that the tree house was in! I truly miss those days and if there was a way to go back, I would do it in a heartbeat!
Yes, that treehouse was a kid magnate for sure. But in Seaview… not Seaside, right?
OOOPS! Hate getting old!!!! Yes Seaview!! We lived on California Street one block behind Cornells Crab Pot! The Omans of Omans and Sons Lumber are my cousins. I spent hours helping “old man Marsh” clean coral out behind the original Marshes Museum. The metal Flying Dutchman on the roof of the museum was in our living room where my dad Gene Dixon and I painted it for Marsh. My dad also got the musical machines in the museum working. After Marsh would purchase them in a “not functioning” condition he would bring them to my dad to “fix”. Some of the old arcade machines came from our business “Long Beach Penny Arcade” that my family owned and operated when I was about three years old. So many memories, so little grey matter to store them all in!
I have a question. I purchased the print “High and Dry”. Can anyone tell me where it was painted? Thanks.
On a flight from N.C. 5 yrs ago I sat next to a women from Australia. At the time I was living in Long Beach and when I told her that, she said she had gone there years ago but all she could remember was the BRIGHTLY colored house, and I told her that it was the Mulvey house.
I am so glad that when I moved here, it was soon enough to meet Charles Mulvey and John & Val Campiche.
What a lovely story. My Aunt Mary (Bussone-Luethe) took me into the gallery years ago and let me pick out a few prints that I will always cherish for so many reasons. My Uncle Gary (Luethe) inherited a few of Charles Mulvey’s earliest pieces, all so beautiful and unique. I look forward to seeing the full exhibit. Thank you for sharing!
It was stunning to see so many of Charles’ original works in one room. What a display and what an evening.
I am a watercolor artist living in Lynnwood,Wa. I acquired an original painting of Mr. Charles Mulvey not long ago. I recognized it as a quality piece of artwork and since then I have been researching his work . I would like to loan this particular piece called “Beach in Gold” whenever there is a collection gathered for an exhibition. I am quite interested in NW artist, particularly, watercolor artists. Send me more information regarding this possibility.
That’s a very kind offer, indeed. Let me do a little exploring and see what the best way of keeping you informed might be.
My husband just inherited a beautiful Mulvey piece from his parents Lou and Orla Magill. I am told that he was commissioned to paint this watercolor of the beach in front of the home in Long Beach. I am so interested in finding out more about Mr. Mulvey and his work, it is so beautiful.
I consider myself lucky to have been given a Mulvey original. It was commissioned in the early 80’s, and is of two commercial boats leaving the port of Ilwaco. Am I correct in thinking this seems like a big departure from his normal fare? Our family enjoys it everyday, and I am always on the lookout for more of his work. I am sorry to have missed the show. Any info on future shows in the NW would be appreciated.
Is there a web [or hard-copy] photographic repository anywhere of Charles Mulvey’s work?
Did anyone, during any time periods, systematically photograph, or record his work?
I’m particularly interested in researching two originals. Since the mid-50’s he has been one of my family’s favorite artists; he somehow conveyed the re-creative powers of nature (even in a SKIing painting we display!) My dad, at his church in Longview, especially enjoyed taking water color classes from Mulvey.
Charles Mulvey’s widow, Kaye Mulvey Cowan, still lives at their old home in Seaview. She would be the best person to contact for information regarding his work.
I recently came across two of Charles Mulvey’s water color prints “Harbor Reflections” and “High and Dry”. I assume that “Harbor Reflections” was done at Ilwaco harbor but I don’t quit recognize where “High and Dry” was painted. Is it on the bay looking towards South Bend or maybe near Chinook? Megler? Stringtown? I grew up on the Peninsula and played with the Mulvey children almost daily. The Omans are my cousins. Sure do miss those days.
Charles’s widow, Kaye Mulvey Cowan might know the setting of the painting you are wondering about.
My parents left our small travel trailer at Howard’s Campground on the Long Beach peninsula in the mid to late 60’s. I vividly remember many stops at The Sea Chest during those years. My mother took lessons a number of times from Charles Mulvey and I was able to tag along on many of them. I can still see him dipping an empty coffee can into the surf and then taking it back to his easel. He would them proceed to paint a beautiful watercolor in just minutes all the while explaining what he was doing. My parents purchased two originals, both large in size, from him. One is a watercolor and one in oil. I would have loved to have attended this event.
I have been blessed with one of his original works from the 60’s . My grandmother baked bread and pies for art lessons, and fell in love with one of his pieces of a large piece of driftwood. As I am told he won some awards for this piece, but it was promised to my grandmother (Josephine Biggness) for my dad for his graduation or for when he returned from CG bootcamp. I just know that the memories of getting to go with my grandma when I was little to listen to them sit and talk about her techniques, because she did oils, he admitted he appreciated her eye for seascapes, she credited him for showing her how to draw what her eye was seeing.
I spent summers in the two story house opposite the tree swing before we bought a house in Long Beach. Every year we spent at least two weeks in Charle’s cottage behind the Sea Chest. Charles started my watercolor career with his annual lessons, first one right on the property. We than ranged over the entire Penninsula painting as we went. I hung out with the two girls when we all were high school aged. I lost track of the family when I went to College. At WSU in Pullman I put on a show for Charles at the school library in 1968. My watercolors are painted now in Manoa Valley, Honolulu.
Thanks for writing, John. I am passing your remarks on to Charlie’s widow, Kaye Mulvey Cowan and also to the Columbia River Heritage Museum for their Mulvey archive.
I will never forget my time spent with the Mulveys. Painting lessons ranged from the Cranberry bogs to the lighthouse. My fellow bandmember Sam Smith may have ended up in the area. He is one of many friends from Vancouver who loved the area. These years later I can still hear the crackling fireplace in the Sea Chest Gallery and smell the sweet scent of sea air, pine and fir. We dug clams, hunted for glass balls and seashells, but most of all Charle’s watercolor classes were the heighth of my summers. When I exhibited paintings at the bookstore in Long Beach Mrs Mulvey at the time, was upset. There seemed to be a conflict between the Doctor’s family and Maureen. My parents had died and I was shy then and embarrassed at the situation and lost contact with the Mulveys. But never will I forget the summers spent painting with Charles. His classes were the beginning of many paintings and awards over time. Thank you Charles.
We have a collection of material from the papermill in Oregon City, OR which has closed. In reorganizing it this weekend we found that we have one large oil painting and several watercolors apparently from historic photos by Charles Mulvey. I know he was from here – I worked in the court system with his brother Robert and have admired Charles’s seascapes for many, many years. Looking for information on when the mill photos were painted.
I hope you were able to touch bases with Charles’s widow, Kaye. Let me know if I can be of further help.
I am so pleased to find that his work is appreciated, and very much regret that I didn’t get back to his house for another visit, and to pick up one of his great seascapes.
I was a very young Army PFC, on pass for the weekend at the beach, in the summer of 1965 with my first car — a ’53 Chevy convertible that had cost me a month’s pay, $65.00.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day as I got ready to leave, the convertible top wiring caught fire and the car self-destructed. I still recall this “”old guy” (remember, I was barely 19 ) that came rushing down the beach to help. There wasn’t much to do but stand there in horror and wonder how I was going to get back to Fort Lewis.
Anyway, this nice gentleman took me down the beach to his house, we had some dinner, looked over his paintings, and traded stories about our Army experiences, and living on the beach (I had been raised on a Oregon beach). After he realized my situation, he mentioned that he had his “work car,” an old gray Cadillac (1951, I believe) that he would let me have for $75. He explained that it was ugly and had no finish at all left from the salt air & wind, since every day he drove it on the beach with his painting kit, but it ran well. I don’t think he had any real plan to sell it before, but was basically doing me a favor. I told him that I had almost no money, and he said that if I liked the car I should take it and send him the money when I could afford it. He had also been a poverty-stricken soldier & knew that Army pay hadn’t gone up a bit since WW2. I happily agreed and left shortly afterward.
It took me many months to save up a bit of money, but I had mislaid his address, so I asked my mother, who lived in Raymond at the time, to try to find an address. She tried several times with no luck. I believe he had no phone listed at the time, and I didn’t want to spend my little pile of money driving down to the beach to find him — and then having nothing to pay him. And about that time I got assigned to a new sergeant whose mission in life was to make sure I never got weekend passes … and then I got transferred completely out of the area.
My mother eventually tracked Mr. Mulvey down years later through a lady who had once bought a watercolor from him. By that time I was newly married, at the Pentagon, and the response passed on to me was that I didn’t owe him a thing — he was happy to help a fellow soldier who needed it.
I owned that car for several years and was quite attached to it, as I believe he was, too. Its finish looked like gray sandpaper, rough to the touch, and the salt air had created some serious rust here and here … but that car never let me down. As he had warned, parking that big tank built serious arm muscles because it had NO power steering — but I loved the thing, and not a day went by that I didn’t remember the kind, gracious man that passed it on to me, and who gave me some valuable hints about how to survive the U.S. Army. I retired in 1985, still stationed in Washington D.C., and always regretted not having a chance to visit my friend at the beach again and thank him, while we sipped a warm drink & watched the tide roll in. His art work was truly spectacular, and I much enjoyed those few memorable hours with a very special man who loved the beach as much as I did.
I’m sure none of this will come as any surprise to anyone who knew Charles Mulvey — a fine artist, a gentle & humble soul, and truly one of nature’s noblemen. The world was a better place while he was with us.
What a lovely remembrance! Thank you so much for sharing it with me!
Love your story! Almost a year since we bought a house in Seaview and my new neighbors grew up with the Mulvaneys and showed me several of his paintings. I am a watercolor artist and wish I could have taken classes from him!
I recently came across one of Charlie’s water colors by accident, and had never heard his name before. After doing a little research on Mr. Google, and reading so many touching stories about Charlie, and the many people who loved him, I feel that just by teleporting into his painting that “somehow”, I feel I know him a little better.
The painting has no name. It depicts sand dunes, some water in the distance, then more sand dunes, then hills. You can get lost in this space, and it’s very easy to imagine the sights and sounds of the breeze floating around the sand.
I can tell Charlie was there, because this picture has so much depth/distance to it.
The only thing I cannot figure out, is why he painted this scene from the bottom of a sand dune as opposed to the top, where he would have had more view?
Also there’s a green tree to the left, with thick foliage “sort of” blocking the view somewhat.
It suddenly dawned on me that the spot he had chosen may have been the best ever and really “cozy”, sandwiched between a dune and a tree, leaving a channel of view in between.
Anyway, would have loved to have met Charlie, to ask him why he had chosen this particular spot!
Hello! I grew up in Longview, Washington. My dad collected art and had quite an eclectic collection hanging in our home and his office. I inherited several framed and, I assume original, watercolors by Charles Mulvey. In the interest of downsizing, I want to keep my favorite one and sell the rest. Is there a gallery there on the Long Beach Peninsula that can assist with this? How could I find out the value of these paintings and if they are for certain originals? Any advice would help! Thank you.
I would suggest that you get in touch with Kaye Mulvey Cowan, Charles Mulvey’s widow. She lives in Seaview and is listed in the local phonebook.
response to Ann. I have been slow at trying to collect some of his original pieces. If you are interested in contact .I live in Portland. I had early history spending holiday retreat time in Seaview and lovely memories of visits to the home gallery and visits with Mr.Mulvey. Long collection of prints and finally a time to find originals, is my attempt. I hope to add a couple more to my home. Cathy
I just bought a Mulvey print here in Emporia, KS. I fell in love with it a year ago but had no place to put it. Well our grand daughter’s new home is decorated in sea side colors and she has a lighthouse replica. It was a no brainer to go back to the antique dealer and purchase the North Head Lighthouse watercolor. Could it be the original or were prints made of this?
I think prints were made of many of Charles’ paintings. I imagine a good art dealer or an artist could take a look and tell you which it is.
I don’t know if this site is still active. I’ve had a couple of Charle’s originals ( I think half sheets) and am selling my beach home where I’ve always had them over 28 years in Manzanita Oregon. I may be looking for new homes for them and was wondering where would be a good site to place them on? I’ve loved my ocean pictures and their drift wood looking framing. Can you supply me with any information? I remember talking to charles years ago around his wood stove as he showed many his current pieces. I lived in Astoria from 1979-1982 and would visit Seaview a lot. Thanks for any suggestions. Pat
Hi Pat,
I’m sorry, but I really have no ideas for you. I suggest to speak with a few local art galleries, perhaps in the Astoria or Long Beach WA area, and see what they might suggest.
Sydney
When I was a small boy in the late 60’s, Mr Mulvey would come to our house in Naselle and teach watercolor painting to all the little old ladies in town. (some of whom might have been in their thirties) In that process he painted three specific paintings in my moms dining room, which he then gave to my mom. She had them matted and framed and they have hung in the house ever since. I recently inherited them and would like to find someone who might be interested in buying them from me. I would appreciate anything you could do to help me. Thanks
Dave
Wow! I bought a 6 1/2″ x 5″ framed print of “Wind In The Pines” about 10 years ago at Goodwill. I paid only a couple bucks for it, and was impressed that it seemed to be a piece of fine art. I hung it in my bathroom, where there are about a half dozen prints of women; a couple portraits of young women and and some prints of women engaged with water. I just decided to web search the print this evening and was delighted to learn that it is a respected image.
I was at a Goodwill in Portland, Oregon a couple of years ago and found an interesting Oregon beach scene done in watercolor, signed by Charles Mulvey. I hadn’t heard of him before, I live in northern California and don’t know if anyone here is familiar with his art. Watercolor is a tough medium to master and he really mastered it. This past summer (2020) I was visiting Portland again and purchased another original of a beach scene I saw in a local store. I’m grateful for the comments on this site as there doesn’t seem to be much about him and his work elsewhere on the internet. Reading the comments I now have somewhat of an idea of what life was like in coastal Oregon back in his day, such a wonderful place to live. With “50,000” paintings over his lifetime floating around out there hopefully someday someone will take on the job of documenting his life and work. There would be plenty of examples around to study and include, one would think. A documentation of his work would be very valuable for students of watercolor painting to study. The paintings I have have an etherial quality and yet are solidly grounded in the shorelines he depicted with very few brushstrokes. Having tried to paint with watercolor for a while I really appreciate his ability to convey so much with such a simple, beautiful style.
Hello Gudrun,
Thanks for your comments about Charles. (I did have to smile about your “back in his day,” comment, though. He was about halfway between my parents and me in age, so the Oregon/Washington coast that he lived with is much the same as mine — and parts of it have changed very little in the hundred-or-so years since his birth.
I would imagine that he is quite well known in CA and in most other states by aficionados of Northwest art and watercolors. His works not sold in his lifetime or by his late widow are at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum as far as I know. You could contact them to learn the extent to which his work has been documented.
I’m not sure what, exactly, you were looking for about Charlie on the internet. I see quite a few articles and references, but unlike one of our other watercolor artists of renown in this area, Eric Wiegardt, Charlie did not write a book about his work, nor did anyone else as far as I know. Maybe you are the one to take on such a project! If you came to the Long Beach Peninsula, you could track down a great deal of his artwork and find many, many residents with “Charlie memories and stories!
I first met Charles Mulvey at age twelve when he was demonstrating watercolor at the downtown People’s store (it could have been Rhode’s) in Tacoma. It was 1966 or 7. It was because of Mr Mulvey that I started watercolor painting. I was fortunate to take one of his classes when he taught in McMinnville Oregon. I was around 24 at the time. He was a great teacher and I’ll never forget what I learned from him.
I have an original watercolor by Charles Mulvey that he painted for my dad in the early 60’s. It’s a fishing boat with a lighthouse on a bluff in the background. I remember visiting his studio and home shortly after his first wife was murdered. Years later I met Kay at the Mulvey Gallery and she graciously spent about an hour chatting about Charles and other local characters. Since I need to downsize, I’m looking for a new home for this painting and any guidance would be appreciated.
Kaye would have been the best source of information for you but perhaps the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum could help or could steer you in t he right direction. They had a large retrospective exhibition of Charles’s work a number of years ago and the curator of that exhibit may have information for you.
Sydney
If there is any of Charles Mulvey’s watercolor paintings around, please email me. Looking for one of the Ilwaco Harbor, or the Cape D lighthouse. Thank you, and RIP to Kay Mulvey’s son-in-law, Tim Bolen who passed away yesterday, 3/21/22 of a inoperable brain tumor. God Bless Tim!
Anne — I’m sure there are some of Charley’s paintings around, but I am not the one to ask. Perhaps Betsy Millard at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco could be of help.
Sydney
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Good post guys!
I well remember visiting the Sea Chest every August when our family vacationed in Seaview for two weeks. I always wanted one of Charles Mulvey’s paintings but my parents wouldn’t buy one for me. After I was married, in the 198os, my husband and I bought one—finally! I love it. My father and his friends always gravitated to the cool vintage cars such as the Pierce Arrow.