Sam Chappell is a Portland, Maine painter whose vibrant, expressive landscapes capture the emotional atmosphere of a place rather than its literal appearance. A self-taught artist who came to painting during the pandemic, Sam Chappell built her practice from the ground up — guided by intuition, an art history background steeped in the Renaissance, and a deep desire to translate feeling into form.
Her canvases, grounded in a signature red underpainting and layered with bold brushwork, pulse with warmth and atmosphere. Whether painting New England woods or coastal lowlands, Sam Chappell creates landscapes that feel like emotional distillations of memory and mood. Represented by Portland Art Gallery, her work resonates with collectors drawn to contemporary painting that is both technically confident and deeply personal.
What does it take to walk away from a corporate career, pick up a brush for the first time, and build a painting practice from nothing — all while becoming a mother?