Charles Dayton inherited a strong connection to the American West. His ancestors, part of the Mormon migration, colonized high-mountain valleys in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.  His great-great grandfather was a missionary to Chief Washakie and the Eastern Shoshone.

Charles was raised on a cattle ranch in Southwestern Wyoming. He grew up surrounded by mountains, horses, and cows and framed C.M. Russell calendar prints that decorated the old ranch house walls where he was raised.

He developed drawing skills as a youth, focusing on portraits and the horses and wildlife around him.

It wasn’t until college, where he studied art with nationally-recognized artist James Christensen, that he refined his appreciation for accuracy and draftsmanship.

Charles left Brigham Young University with a degree in western history and a strong foundation in art. However, it wasn’t until after encouragement from landscape artist Karl Thomas that Charles began to pursue his art professionally. He now paints Native Americans of the Mountain West and Plains tribes as well as working cowboys.