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Chapman describes her style as “clashy colours and abstract florals,” creating works that are filled with colour and spread happiness, generally done on canvas or paper.<\/p>\n
Given her passion about the use of colour, it’s no surprise it features predominantly in the majority of her pieces and is central to her work.<\/p>\n
“Surrounding yourself with colour that calls for you is good for the soul,” Chapman said.<\/p>\n
She said she would not have been able to describe her style when she first started painting and thought it was “quite nonsense”, although people liked it and bought it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her style has since evolved and over the years she’s tried different things to mix it up.<\/p>\n “I’ve tried painting more neutral tones as trends changed but I do find myself often gravitating towards big, bold, clashy colour.<\/p>\n “I just find it evokes more joy and painting for trends never really got me anywhere, but painting from the heart, it’s just more rewarding.<\/p>\n “People who have purchased my artworks send me messages, from time to time they’ll pop into my DMs and say ‘I love walking into my lounge room and just seeing this big bright happy piece.’<\/p>\n “I like this idea that this material piece can actually bring someone genuine happiness, I think that’s quite a powerful thing.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapman’s work is inspired by wanting to create things that bring joy and make people happy to look at.<\/p>\n There normally isn’t a plan she follows when sitting down to paint, and she just sets out to create something she likes looking at.<\/p>\n Keeping her artworks quite open, she paints intuitively and follows where it takes her, saying the creative process is the fun part.<\/p>\n “Things don’t work out as well when I try to put a strategy behind it,” she said.<\/p>\n “The only thing I might have a general idea of is what kind of colours I think might be central.<\/p>\n “That’s pretty much the only guiding principle that I have behind me and then everything else, I’ll just see where it takes me.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With a paintbrush in her hand, Chapman said it’s almost like meditation, turning to the tools when she felt anxious.<\/p>\n “When you’re painting, everything else disappears, there’s no anxiety, no stress, there’s no worrying about money or life challenges or anything,<\/p>\n “Everything goes away, everything melts away and all that matters is what’s in front of you, the colours.<\/p>\n “When I’m stressed, even still today, even though I don’t suffer with anxiety the same way I did back then, if I’m feeling a bit stressed, even on my lunch breaks, I’ll go out and have a paint, or on weekends, I’ll paint.”<\/p>\n Working full-time as a writer, Chapman said in that respect she had always been creative and in a way, artistically creative.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/StephChapmanartwork__58794-1024x1024.jpg?_t=1726034284\")
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