About: The Artist
In the early 1970’s Robyn Chapman and his wife and family sold their brand new suburban home in Mesa, Arizona. They quit their jobs and gave away everything they couldn’t haul in a pickup truck and a 2 door coupe. The contents of those two vehicles was all they brought to Missouri to start a new life in the Ozarks. They managed to make room for three pictures Chapman had fashioned from nails.
It was the requirement of an art class in college that Chapman should teach himself to create an art project using only nails. He found this work to be creatively challenging and was inspired to go on to complete 50+ pieces over the next few years. Most of this early work was sold in arts and craft shows in the Scottsdale area. This is the “lost” work. It is identified with a signature nail. The “lost” work is very “beginner-like.” That is because it is.
The first two decades in Missouri were remarkably challenging, but after 20 years the Chapman’s were entrenched in their owner-built home on their 120 acre farm. Chapman and his wife taught school, and Chapman also drove a school bus, worked as a driver for a canoe outfitter, played bluegrass music, and taught karate to provide additional income. He also hired bands for the Big Springs Arts and Crafts and Bluegrass Festival for 13 years, most notably Allison Krause and Union Station.
In 2000, looking forward to his retirement, Chapman began putting aside his other interests and focused his concentration on his creative work with nails. In five years he completed and framed 40+ pieces of his unique nail art. In 2004, he began displaying his work in galleries in Missouri and Arizona. He sold, gifted, and commissioned a number of pieces, but has preferred to keep most of the body of work intact in this portfolio which is not for sale (NFS) for the time being. The price range will be based on appraisals from $500 to $7,500 and up per piece.