Alfred Charles, Jr.

Coast Salish (Lower Elwha)

Alfred Buster Charles Jr. was born in 1972. He is a member of Lower Elwha, of the Klallam Tribe, on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, and grew up in Port Angeles.

Al has been carving for over 20 years now. His mother Adrianne is an accomplished weaver and beader. She influenced and nurtured his artistic skills from childhood on. When he was a teenager, he attended a cultural Summer School, where he first began to learn more in-depth about the traditional artwork that he was so fond of. After only a couple of years, he was teaching classes at the Summer School.

After he graduated from High School in 1990, Al became a commercial fisherman here in the Pacific Northwest, creating his artwork in his downtime. In 2000, he retired from fishing to work exclusively on his artwork.

Alfred works in wood, precious metals, paint, design, and sculptures. His creations include jewelry, totems, masks, prints, and paddles. He has also been building ocean-going canoes and participating in the annual Paddle Journey since 1992.

Al was taught about traditional artwork by many people, including Leo Charles Jr.— his cousin and Summer School teacher; Floyd Cooke— another summer school teacher; the late Richard Mike— who taught Al to build canoes; Dale James of the Lummi Nation— who taught him carving; Joyce Tommy— also of the Lummi Nation; and Dwayne Pasco.

Al’s inspirations span far and wide, as do his teachers, but some major influencers that he admires are Greg Colfax (of Neah Bay), Dwayne Pasco, Shaun Peterson (of Puyallup), and Andy Wilbur. He especially admires Andy Wilbur and the way he has put his own style into the “old stuff” and hasn’t been deterred from going outside of the box to create something that is visually engaging and beautiful, yet still meets the standards of the traditional style. The biggest inspiration of all to Al is the artwork of his ancestors—of all the ancient peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

Alfred continues to merge traditional thoughts and ideas with our current times and needs to create breathtaking contemporary, yet traditional art pieces. He is heavily involved with his community, and currently resides in Tulalip with his family.