We recently connected with Sabrinah Chappell and have shared our conversation below.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Sabrinah Chappell.  I am a sculpture and assemblage artist living in Fort Worth, Texas under the name Texas MerMade. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania and lived there for most of my life. I moved to Santa Fe with my fiancé, where we were married and resided for a few years before moving to Texas. We started our family here and plan for Texas to be our forever home.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at the beach and have always been fascinated by the ocean and its animals.  The ocean always seemed so magical and mysterious to me as a child. I read as many books as I could and watched all the documentaries I could find about the ocean. I dreamed about what it would be like to scuba dive and explore underwater, seeing all the beautiful, colorful creatures beneath the surface. When I was about 9 years old, I was convinced I could breathe underwater. Any time we went swimming, I would sit on the bottom of the pool, close my eyes, and be calm. My connection to water is very, very strong and is the only thing I’ve found that grounds me.

The magic and wonder I felt as a child have followed me into adulthood, and my art reflects my passion for the ocean. I find inspiration in tiny details, textures, and colors, and the metallic, shimmering nature of water lends itself to a lot of experimentation with techniques. I have a lot of fun with that.

I create many different forms of art, and it’s interesting to see where my imagination takes me. I have made a variety of sculptural art objects, wall art, and functional decor such as votives, decorative bowls, and mirrors, many times using vintage finds in my work.

Vintage and antique vessels are used for the bases of some of my sculptures, and treasure hunting for them is one of my favorite activities. I love old silver tea sets, brass bowls and planters, or anything that looks like it may have fallen to the ocean floor from a ship lost at sea. There is something truly satisfying about giving a vintage or antique item another chance to be loved and admired.

Natural ocean elements such as corals, shells, and barnacles are the focus of my art. Being surrounded by these elements in my studio is calming to me, and I feel very connected to them.  Many of the shells that I use I collect myself on the Gulf coast, and I have a habit of acquiring the shell collections of others as well.  Some people call this hoarding, but I disagree. I keep them all very organized and tell myself that must count for something.

Equally important and visible in my work are raw minerals, gemstones, and crystals.  It is amazing to me how these land-formed elements so closely resemble corals, shells, and other underwater formations. Building my sculptures is very similar to putting a puzzle together with a lot of little, tiny pieces of the Earth. It’s fun to imagine their stories and how they ended up in my hands and in my art.

Before I was a full-time artist, I worked as an Xray and CT technologist.  My educational background is more of a science nature, and I’ve always loved learning about science and biology. About three years ago, I set up a “lab” within my studio space and started growing my own crystals.  This is where I crystallize larger shells, a client favorite, and where all my crystal-growing experiments take place. This year I have plans to expand this portion of my studio to grow even more types of crystals and incorporate them into more of my larger work, including wall art.

People often tell me that my art is unlike anything they’ve seen before. This is truly the best compliment I can receive.  Over the years I’ve developed my own artistic process through trial and error, lots of experimentation, lots of failures, and a few breakthroughs.  I take a lot of pride in my process and it’s a great feeling when others recognize its uniqueness. I love that my art is different, and I will always continue to push my creative limits to keep it that way.

My commissioned projects are some of my favorites. I love custom projects because they connect me with people who really love what I do. My clients are so happy with their custom pieces and enjoy having such a big part in planning their project. We shop for vessels, make drawings, and select main elements like specific corals or crystal specimens. It’s a lot of fun for everyone.

Other personal favorites include my MerMade Dolls.  I believe the idea for my dolls originated from my Grandmother, who collected beautiful porcelain dolls and had a true love for them. To create a MerMade Doll, I disassemble vintage dolls, using their heads as a base for extravagant crowns of shells and crystals.  I replace the eyes to make them more human-like, and then mount them on candelabras or wooden bases before giving them their crown.  They take on unique personalities and are more on the macabre side of my art.  Some of my clients obsess over them, and others are a little creeped out. I’m in love with them.

You can find my art on my personal website, as well as at Park and Eighth in Fort Worth, Texas, Loving Coastal Living in Port Aransas, TX, and Lisa Mayo Interiors Port A in Port Aransas, TX. I am a mom of two, Alora who is 7 and August, 4. I am an artist from birth and my creativity is something I’m very proud of. I love that art has no rules and I can create freely.

I am a strong believer in ocean conservation and my art is one way for me to spark that desire in others. A portion of all sales is donated to the Texas Sealife Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, where injured coastal animals are rescued, treated, and released right next to my favorite beach. I am also a member and annual donor to both the Global Coralition and the Coral Reef Alliance.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

As a creative, I have a lot of emotion attached to the pieces I make. When I’m creating art, I find myself in a meditative state. There is an energy transfer that happens, and it comes from a deep place, almost like my soul is speaking to my hands. My artwork is a combination of my emotions, life experiences, current challenges and breakthroughs, and my imagination. I have a very strong personal and emotional attachment to what I create and sharing it with the world feels like sharing a page in my journal.

I have had to learn to practice detachment, as some people are simply not able to understand how creating art can be a deeply personal process.  Sharing art with the world puts a creative person in a uniquely vulnerable place, a place that a non-creative may never experience. It takes a lot of bravery to put your art out there for everyone to see.  Sometimes a choice of words can make a big difference, especially when sharing opinions about art.

That being said, feedback is important and necessary to help me grow my style and my process. As the world has expanded, there has been so much love and positive connection that surfaced for me, from both creatives and non-creatives.  I think it’s important to keep sharing the personal and emotional sides of creating art, both good and bad, so that anyone who is curious has a way to tap in and gain a deeper understanding of the place my art really comes from.

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

The biggest reward about being an artist is freedom!  For me this means freedom in my personal life and freedom within the creative realm.

In my life I love that I can set my own hours, be there for my kids when they need me, and take a break when I need one. Overseeing my own time comes with challenges, but it has been so much better for my physical and mental health than working for someone else.

In the creative realm, I love the fact that there are no rules in art! I can experiment with different techniques, create anything I want, and create it any way I choose! It’s wonderful. I think the freedom to experiment and innovate is so important for artists so we can create new and wonderful things and keep inspiring one another to make more fabulous art!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TexasMerMade.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texas_mermade/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasMerMade