We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Queen Chappin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.

Hi Amy, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever worked on was a painting of a baptism.

The Young woman being baptized was named Poloma. She was a translator for a preacher in the Ukraine who worked with Eastern European Missions, (EEM). They print Bibles in Eastern European languages and give them to people all over Eastern Europe for free. The schools are asking for them there and using them in their everyday curriculum.

She was helping with one of the American groups who had come over to help with a children’s bible camp.
One of my friends was in the group visiting and snapped the picture of her in the Black Sea.

The look of complete forgiveness and relief on her face was irreplaceable. She had heard the good news of Christ’s redemption and was being baptized for the forgiveness of her sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Her complete trust and obedience to Gods call is summed up in her smile and glowing demeanor.

I used silver leaf under the Oil Paint to try to get the reflective qualities of the water. EEM has the painting in their offices in Texas.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always been interested in art and enjoyed drawing and painting and being reflective and creative. I majored in Fine Art and Graphic Design and after college did several different jobs along those lines. Teaching is also an interest of mine and I enjoy teaching people of all ages, especially how to plein air paint. Portraiture and landscapes have been my bread and butter for many years but when 2020 came along, I changed my focus. I still had some portrait commissions coming in but the plein air competitions went by the wayside. I had begun painting at weddings too before there was a lull in weddings.
After enjoying my time at home eventually I began to go out in search of people to practice painting for weddings. I ended up downtown in my town of Statesville at the radio station, WAME. They have a live broadcast bluegrass show, once a week, called Piedmont Folkways. I began painting the bands as they performed. When they began selling, I searched out other places to paint live music. My daughter plays violin and I was naturally inclined to look for bluegrass music but have also found lots of other genre that interest me and that is fun to paint to. I’ve found that I can hardly paint now without some form of lively music!
The weddings are coming back and I am hoping to eventually paint at the Ryman Auditorium or the Grand Ole Opry. My dream is to paint at some larger performances and auction some off for EEM.
I want my potential clients to know that I am genuinely interested in them and enjoy meeting so many interesting people. My commissions are of a wide variety of genre including parties, weddings, musical performances, posed portraits, home and pet portraits and landscapes.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is having a happy customer. I recently got and email from a person who bought two of my paintings back in 1999. She sent me a nice letter explaining how she couldn’t remember my name but found it on the back of the painting when she was rearranging and did an online search. She wondered how I was doing and if I was still painting. She had enjoyed the two paintings so much, one of my parents’ garden and the other of New Mexico. She attached pictures to remind me of the paintings and I loved seeing them on her wall! They were of great memories from a trip to Georgia O’keefe’s house and of my parents’ garden early morning that still holds a special place in my heart.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

To best support artists I think it’s important to buy their work and commission things that are meaningful to the individual.

Sometimes people overthink purchasing a piece. They say, “Does it match?, Will my decorator like it?”
If you like it now, your going to like it later. Go with your gut instinct.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amyqueenchappinart.com
• Instagram: @weddingpainterlive
• Facebook: Amy Queen – Original Oil Paintings

Image Credits
Amy Queen Chappin