Artist Sue Chapman
In wooded northeast Crawford County, near Milltown, artist Sue Chapman appreciates the tranquil setting of her home.
“I moved here more than 30 years ago to enjoy the picturesque landscape with its views of woods, streams and wildlife,” the artist said. Chapman, now 97 years old, holds a wellspring of memories about the land formations of this area that she has painted.
Memories from her earlier life — in New York, Indianapolis, Louisville and Corydon — also emerge as she speaks about her life as an artist.
Chapman was born and grew up in Delmar, New York. She remembers choosing art classes for all her electives through junior high and high school. “I was probably influenced to do this by my father, who should have been an artist,” she said. “I was lucky to have had a great teacher, Elizabeth Marston, who I used to go back and visit, even years later.”
Straight after high school, Chapman enrolled at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, a school known for its art and design programs. “I figured I would have to make a living after college,” Chapman said, “so I chose commercial art, focusing on illustration.” She was right; she had no trouble finding work after graduation. Early employers included ad agencies, printers, and, on a freelance basis, General Electric’s advertising apparatus and public relations departments.
When Chapman and her husband moved to Indianapolis, shortly after their marriage, it was because he was offered employment in the expanding Midwest, and because they were both big auto racing fans. While Chapman continued to work in her field, she took on a part-time job as a scorer for the races. “I loved the speed, the thrill of competition,” she said. Her artwork began reflecting the influence of this sport.
“I did hundreds of pen and ink drawings, watercolor and acrylic paintings of auto racing,” she said. Louisville’s Courier Journal Sunday Magazine used one of her illustrations for an Indianapolis 500 story, as did Sports Car Graphic. One of her works is in the private collection of Hall of Fame driver A.J. Foyt Jr.
Moving to Jeffersonville, Chapman began exploring a new theme for her artwork: horse racing. Thanks to a friend, she got a job as a hot walker at Churchill Downs. (A hot walker is someone who walks the horses to help them cool down after a workout). “I loved walking the horses, sensing their muscle movement,” she said. She eventually became well known for her equine paintings, as her work was featured on magazine covers and used by the horse racing industry.
Reflecting on this period of her life and on her action paintings, Chapman said, “My work was never perfect, but I wanted to get it ‘right’. ‘Right’ might be local color, atmosphere or sense of motion. I attempted to convey the tension between man and medium — whether thoroughbred or race car.”
Chapman and her husband settled in Corydon around the time of Indiana’s sesquicentennial in 1966. “I was impressed that Corydon had been Indiana’s first state capital, so I read a lot of local history,” she said.
For the sesquicentennial, Chapman designed and printed lino blocks of Corydon’s historic landmarks, including the Old State Capitol Building, Constitution Elm, the Posey House, the Old Treasury Building and Gov. Hendricks’ headquarters. A lino block, also known as a lino print or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique. It is a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface as a mirror image. The sheet is inked with a roller, called a brayer, impressed onto paper or fabric, and run through a printing press or printed by hand.
“I printed the images of Corydon landmarks on a galley press from the old Corydon Republican newspaper when it went out of business,” Chapman said. She has kept the original lino blocks all these years.
Another source of inspiration for Chapman’s art has been other artists and writers. In the late 1970s, she was introduced to the American artist and writer Harlan Hubbard.
“I had been impressed by his book “Shantyboat,” about his journey down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, living simply, with leisure for painting,” Chapman said. When Chapman met him, he was living with his wife at Payne Hollow on the shore of the Ohio River in Trimble County, Kentucky. “We became friends, and I felt privileged to have the opportunity to paint portraits of both him and his wife, Anna,” Chapman said.
In November 2023, Harrison County Arts, in Corydon, honored Chapman with a Lifetime Membership Award in conjunction with an exhibit of close to 50 of her paintings.
“The evening of the opening reception was truly wonderful,” Chapman said. “I was totally surprised and deeply moved by all the people who showed up.”
In an article about this event, The Corydon Democrat referred to her a “one of Southern Indiana’s most beloved artists.”
Since her move to Crawford County, one of Chapman’s favorite places to paint has been the Leavenworth Overlook. “I have made over 20 different paintings there,” she said. “For one week, I went almost every day. The light at different times of day, the shadows created by fog and sun have created endless possibilities.”
Chapman stopped painting a year ago due to health concerns. “If I were to paint again,” she said, “I would return to Horseshoe Bend at the Leavenworth Overlook.” •
Photos by Lorraine Hughes || Story by Judy Cato
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