Charles MacQueen was born in Glasgow in 1940. He was educated at St Aloysius College and then attended the Glasgow School of Art.

After graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 1965, Charles MacQueen pursued a successful career in Art Education. Throughout his teaching years Charles continued to paint and exhibited widely. Eventually in 1990 Charles retired to concentrate full time as a professional artist.

Charles MacQueen has won many art awards over a long and distinguished career. This includes: the Council Award of the RSW ; the Torrance Award and the Teacher's Whisky Travel Award, both at the Royal Glasgow Institute. He was also elected a member of the Royal Glasgow Institute in 1983 and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1984.

Charles MacQueen paintings can be extremely textured. He uses textured levels of paint and gesso to create the feeling, sensation or experience of specific places. Charles says of his paintings "The forms I use are forms remembered or dreamt about. The stark visual contrasts of moving between strong blinding sunlight and dark bazaars full of rich reds, golds and turquoise inhabit my paintings. This is like being put down to sleep in a darkened room with strong sumlight streaming through the shutters. This is not representation but an evocation".