Charles Noel van Sandwyk was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1966. In 1977, he emigrated with his family to Vancouver, Canada. By the early 1980’s, he was selling his drawings and watercolors in a style reminiscent of the old prints and paintings which hung in the family home.

Van Sandwyk studied graphic design at the Capilano College art program in North Vancouver. Upon completion in 1986, the wanderlust of younger years sent him travelling to the South Pacific. He discovered the Fiji Islands, and fell in love with a remote island and its inhabitants.