Don't bemoan the lack of fine art in Sacramento. It's alive and well, and living practically next door. There is a growing arts community in Elk Grove - and one of Northern California's premier artists lives and paints right here in Laguna.

Cynthia paints the quiet beauty of Northern California, drawing inspiration from natural light and nature's palette by working outdoors. From her California Delta moonscapes to Pacific Coast reveries near her childhood town in Mendocino, her paintings capture the essential spirit of each location.

A quote from her website sums up her work perfectly: "Her images are those she has always seen and painted in California: a grove of heritage oak trees just as the moon fades at dawn, a lost slough in golden summer, or foliage reflected in the blue waters as the Sacramento River bends on its way." Cynthia exhibits her paintings statewide and participates in various community activities in the Sacramento area. Her artwork is represented in numerous collections.

Her talent was first recognized at age 5, when she was awarded a prize for a drawing of her father working at his carpentry bench. Then she stopped. "I didn't pursue the idea of drawing, because I was one of those kids pursued the college prep direction," she remembers. "I didn't take any art or design classes until college."

Pursue it she did, graduating from the University of California, Davis, holding degrees in art and design. "I started painting at UC Davis," she says. "I loved the light in the Delta." Charters went on to earn a Masters of Art, and became the curator/registrar of the Richard L. Nelson Gallery and The Fine Arts Collection at UC Davis.

"My medium is oil and canvas," she explains. Her joy and talent lie in interpreting and documenting the beauty of the wild landscapes of the Central Valley.

Charters left UCD for a position at California State University Stanislaus. She married and started her family. While living in turlock, she was honored to be selected as artist-in- residence in Yosemite National Park for a month one fall. She lived in a cabin and produced an entire body of work, which was exhibited in the park's Ansel Adams Gallery. "I still have some of the small studies from that experience," she says.

The Charters family returned to the Sacramento area in 1994, purchasing a home in Laguna. The artist was drawn to the beauty of the riparian forests, oak savannahs and waterways in the area.

Her time spent in the natural beauty of the Central Valley has been an eye-opening experience. Some of it has been beautiful, some disheartening. "As an artist, I've seen a lot since the early 1980s, being out painting in this valley. The changes and destruction of the sloughs and waterways, the garbage, the intrusion of man into the Delta," One of her more bittersweet successes is her 2003 work, "October Slough," which captured the idyllic peace of the south Stone Lakes area. That particular parcel of land was bulldozed for new housing shortly afterward, now only a memory on Charters' canvas.

Charters is a generous supporter of the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, both through her patronage and through her artwork.

"I became interested in Stone Lakes as early as 1995," she says. "I would go out there to paint at all hours." As the Stone Lakes area changes in size and scope, Charters has become somewhat of a historian of the area. "I feel like I am documenting the transition of this landscape. In many ways, it's irreplaceable "I really value Stone Lakes and the Cosumnes River Preserve - there are fewer and fewer places left to paint," she says.

She does much of her work in the field, often traveling to a spot in the wee hours just to catch the perfect light, like in her popular piece "After Midnight." The night before we spoke, she had risen early to see the waxing moon as it set in the West. "My body clock is tuned into the moonscape," she says.

She works by the light of a single flashlight, painting smaller pieces in the field, or creating drawings for elements to be included in larger pieces of work. "My smaller field paintings are Haiku,' she explains. "The epics happen in my studio." Charters has achieved an amazing harmony with her subject matter. You can feel the quiet peace and solitude in her paintings, and expect to hear the chirp of a sleepy bird or cricket. "Much of my art is placed in hospitals, clinics and therapists' offices," she explains. "I think my paintings offer a gentle calm that hopefully balances the soul, so the viewer is comforted." Indeed, a selection of her regional landscapes is currently on display in the lobby of the Sutter Medical Plaza at 8170 Laguna Blvd. It features a selection of works from Elk Grove and surrounding areas. All works in the exhibition may be purchased, and a portion of the proceeds benefits the Stone Lakes Wildlife Refuge. Cynthia Charters also shares her wisdom and talent with students. She's taught art classes at Cosumnes River College since 1997. In the summertime, she also teaches at the Mendocino Art Center, giving her a chance to visit family and reconnect with the coastal environs of her childhood. Upcoming exhibits of Charters' artwork include a one-woman show in October at Taylor's Noveau Fine Art Gallery, 9625 Elk Grove-Florin Road. Another one-woman show is upcoming at UC Davis. For the time, she'll be teaching at CRC, and seeking out and sharing the light of the coming spring in the Delta. She is excited that art representatives from the East Coast have recently shown interest in exhibiting her work, but loves best showing her work where it's created. "Laguna is a special place," she says. Through her art, she shares a side of the community that most of us rarely see.