Charles (Charlie) Kello was born on August 19, 1942, in Norfolk, Virginia to Myrtle Brothers and Charles Kello, Jr. He was, as his father puts it, "one of the most accomplished artists ever born in Norfolk," and leaves a rich legacy of masterful works, mostly oil paintings. He was a portraitist, still life, seascape, and landscape painter, but his favorite subjects were the natural world. "There will always be a place in this world for a painter of nature," he said. "Nature is truth." At nine, he began his painting career with his father in the family sign painting business. He believed there was no better training for the fine arts than being a commercial artist, one schooled in the traditional methods, as "hand lettering required the ultimate in discipline and manual dexterity." Charlie was prolific, having produced well over 8,000 works during his lifetime, and painting with passion, verve, and clarity up until a few days before his death. His pieces have been in galleries all over the map, in places as far-flung as St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands) and England, France, Italy, and South Africa. He taught more than 2,000 students, held exhibitions in New York City and throughout Virginia, and won numerous awards, including Best in Show at an exhibition at the Chrysler Museum and at the "Friends of the Chesapeake Bay" art show. At one sold-out New York City exhibition, his works hung alongside national and international names, including Salvador Dali and Andrew Wyeth. In the fall of 2014, he realized one of his life's dreams and wrote a book on his teaching method and philosophy, a project that also showcases some of his more notable works, culled from the collections of local and regional patrons. The Artist's New Clothes will be published in the spring of 2015 and will be available through Koehler Books.