Artist Jackson Pollack said, “Painting is a self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.”

The thought holds true with Meridian artist Charlie Busler, who died Thursday at age 70.

Beyond being a talented and respected artist in the Southeast, Mr. Busler was a husband, father, grandfather and friend. He was known for a beaming smile when he talked, no matter the subject.

His creativity began early.

“At an early age, I had a full set of paints, thinner, turpentine, pastels, watercolors, colored pencils, charcoal sticks, and good paper,” Mr. Busler said when he was the featured artist in 2018 at the Walter Anderson Museum. “Being different is a rough place to be when you live in a world that demands conformity.”

He graduated from Meridian High School in 1967 and obtained a degree in biology from the University of Southern Mississippi. He trained in medical technologies at Lloyd Nolan Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Busler worked for more than 30 years with the Mississippi State Department of Health as a food protection program specialist.

In 1974, he went on a blind date with Sharon Smith, a home economist for Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension Service, and in 1976, they married.

“Charlie quickly became an older brother that we loved so much …,” sister-in-law Mary Jane Cox said. “He would take all of the nieces and nephews on nature walks when he would visit in Poplarville, Mississippi. He would stick a pair of snips in his pocket, finding the perfect vines to make nature crowns for the girls. The boys would hop, swing, jump and play with lizards. He would teach as he pulled up a lime green covering of thick moss or peeled the lichen from the tree bark.”

The Buslers’ only daughter, Rachel Misenar, lives in the Jackson’s Belhaven area with her husband, Seth, and children, Jude, Hazel and Shepherd.

Misenar, a respected artist herself, remembers her father’s life-long love of art. She said Walter Anderson was one of his favorites.

“He was especially honored when he was the featured artist at the Ocean Springs museum,” Misenar said. “When I was a little girl, my family would travel to New Orleans; my father would talk to me about the greats like Anderson, Pablo Picasso and Georgia O’Keefe.”

Misenar said her father was self-taught.

“He’s always been creative,” Misenar said. “He took a few classes with Lallah Perry to hone his skill, but art has always been second nature to him.”

Mr. Busler began painting seriously in the 1980s. He has had five one-man gallery shows, and was featured in numerous invitational and competitive exhibits. He earned awards in the Bi-State Art Competition with the Meridian Museum of Art and received the 2001 Artist Achievement Award (Excellence in the Arts Awards) from the Meridian Council of the Arts.

Bob and Deb Bresnahan said they became acquainted with his art from a show at Kathy Fulton’s gallery in the early 90s. They became avid collectors.

“Deb and I began to collect so much;  [Charlie Busler] would let us come to his home studio before he delivered them to galleries,” Bob Breshnahan said. “Most importantly, he was a good person and a close friend.”

Mr. Busler is also known for his generosity in sharing his talents. Clair Huff, arts coordinator for Meridian Public School District, recalled his 2013 Artist Residency at Poplar Springs Elementary.

“[He] worked with students to create a piece that still hangs in the fourth-grade hall today,” Huff said. “The children named it ‘Awesome Starsome.’ ”

Huff said Mr. Busler loved the experience as much as the students did. 

“It was Charlie who approached me about working with our students,” Huff said. “You could tell what a bright light he was, so incredibly talented.”

He is remembered, too, at the Meridian Museum of Art .

“Busler was not only a well-respected artist, but he was also a well-respected individual in our community,” museum director Kate Cherry said. “His talents were significant, and he was always willing to share those talents by teaching workshops and lessons here at the museum.”

Mr. Busler directed the Community of Hope Tutorial Program Youth Mural Project, participated in the carousel horse project for Hope Village for Children, and created one of the annual Arts in the Park t-shirts.

Allison Simmons, co-owner of Brown’s Fine Art and Framing in the Fondren area of Jackson, said she consistently received calls from collectors of Mr. Busler’s art from all over the state and the region.

“He was such a joy to work with, always in the best mood, and his paintings reflect that and his love or art,” Simmons said.

Busler and his daughter were recently honored in February as the spotlight artists for Art for Meridian 2020. Mr. Busler spoke of Meridian’s early days when he volunteered with Art in the Park, a fundraiser for the Meridian Arts Council.

“The fundraisers were hard work in the blazing sun, but we felt we were contributing something worthwhile for the arts,” he said.

Nate Smith, Busler’s nephew, saod his uncle’s bright personality was only to be outdone by his colorful artwork.

“He was a larger than life character,” Nate Smith said. “His love of painting inspired me to pick up a paintbrush. He was a fun-loving, free spirit.”

Mr. Busler’s niece, Katherine Smith, described her uncle as “a light in a dark place. Not just a light but a swirling dancing array of colors.”

Although a commercial success, Mr. Busler once said he would paint even if no one bought his work. 

“It’s easy to note his achievements as a painter and artist because he was so undeniably talented and prolific, but his greatest accomplishment was the joy and goodness he gave to the world,” his nephew Jason Smith said. 

Memorial services for Mr. Busler will begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday at First Christian Church of Meridian. The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. before the service.