Most Emory students relieve stress with exercise or a good old-fashioned party. College sophomore Charlotte “Charlie” Watts, however, likes to attack a canvas.

Watts’ award-winning piece “Mon Petit Chou” (“My Little Cabbage”) involved a series of deconstructions. Watts was painting under the direction of famous painter Harry Alley, and started off painting a realistic horse on the canvas. Then Alley told her she should paint the canvas white.

“And when Harry Alley tells you something, you do it,” Watts says. Later, the painting took a different turn, and Watts turned the canvas purple, and then other colors. When Watts wanted to alter the painting, she would scrape layers off. The final result was a dark image of a horse.

“It was really good for anger management,” Watts says.

She named the painting “Mon Petite Chou” because it was what her sister called her when she made mistakes.

Highlights of Watts’ art career include winning Best in Show at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival in 2008 for “Chou.” She also won Scholastic Gold Keys in 2006, 2007 and 2009 at a regional level and a Portfolio Silver Key at a national level in 2008. Watts has had three solo shows at Tula Art Center, San Francisco Coffee Roasters and Java Monkey Coffeehouse, all of which focused on abstract expressions of “Chou.” She has done several more joint shows around Atlanta.

Watts is on track to become one of Emory’s first visual arts majors. The degree is currently under process to be approved, and Watts is taking visual arts classes to obtain the degree. Until then, Watts has declared an art history major. Getting a visual arts degree will require planning, she says, but will hopefully coincide with her graduation date.

Watts’ impressive résumé and foray into the art world started early.

“It was the stereotypical art beginning — I was drawing when I was 2, and did some pottery as a kid,” Watts says.

She continued on the art path by attending Interlochen Center for the Arts, a summer arts camp for high schoolers, before her freshman year of high school. Watts attended Druid Hills High School in Decatur, right down the road from Emory, where she continued to be involved in art throughout high school.

After winning several art awards, it would have appeared Watts had her choice of institutions to continue her dedication to art. She looked at many arts schools to continue her work, including Parsons The New School for Design and Rhode Island School of Design, but unfortunately none met her criteria.

“My parents said I could attend an arts school if I got a full ride, but most art schools don’t provide that kind of a scholarship,” Watts says.

So she looked closer to home instead.

“Emory was actually my eighth choice,” Watts says with a chuckle.

At Emory, Watts has taken several visual arts classes, including a photography class and a freshman seminar on dance, art and theater.

Although Watts says she has enjoyed her time at Emory and calls the professors in the visual arts department “amazing,” Watts also says that the department lacks the resources to support more serious artistic pursuits, and she doesn’t have a consistent body of work here at Emory.

“I already have a strong artistic foundation, so now I’m looking for the next step, and other artists to feed off,” Watts says. She added that being around other artists “forces you to produce,” and “art can be very competitive — more than what the business school can be.”

And so Watts looks wherever she can on campus for artistic outlets of any kind. She is involved with the Art History Club and WMRE, and serves as editor in chief of Frequency, WMRE’s music and culture zine. She is working toward a second major in music as well, “but that will change,” she says, likely because of her upcoming visual arts degree.

One of Watts’ pieces, “The Tooth Shaman,” was sold in October. It won the American Visions and Voice Award in 2008 and was exhibited at the Georgia State Gallery.

“It’s hard to see your art go, especially when it has a personal story behind it,” Watts says. The inspiration for “Shaman” came from the artist’s time spent studying abroad in Peru, where she worked with local shamans and met capybara, the large rodent featured in the painting.

“The locals don’t believe in modern medicine and instead visit shaman, and the painting is about the black void between modern medicine and what their culture says,” Watts says.

Her work since high school has varied from work illustrating to more photography. She is currently working with the Green Bean Coffee Cart to make a Stipe Grant-sponsored mural about how coffee is made. Watts is also looking into having a show at Atlanta’s Youngblood Gallery.

Watts’ future will definitely continues to involve art. She will be studying art in Florence through Syracuse’s art program next semester, and will “hopefully” get an internship with the Museum of Modern Art or Christie’s Auction house this summer, Watts says.

In fall 2010, Watts will likely head to Paris to study via the Parsons School of Art and Design. She would eventually like to work as an art conservationist.

Whatever career she pursues, Watts’ artistic work will no doubt continue to illuminate the art world.

— Contact Anna Molberg.