Meet Fallon Peper | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Fallon Peper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Fallon, how do you define success?
“What does success mean to you?” This was a question asked at the Miss Chesnee High School pageant back in the early 2000s. It was not MY question and I was so glad as I had no heartfelt answer at the time.

Fast forward to today… Here I sit in a coffee shop in Charlotte, NC in 2024 instead of confined to 4 classroom walls in North Charleston all day as I was 2010-2015,
Unfortunately, the majority of my students had no real models or encouragers of success at home.
I tried taking on the role of teacher and mama and nurse and psychologist and anything and everything, working so hard, too hard most days staying til 5 or 6PM, trying to prepare to give them ALL my ALL. But turns out you can’t keep running on an empty tank. I didn’t have it in me to sign my contract for year six. I took the next few years seeking out new experiences, learning the power of self care and building connections with creatives in my lovely Charleston.
I needed to close my classroom door for my emotional well being, but my heart was wide OPEN for my next, I knew that I was created to create.
I love to create engaging experiences for children. I love creating works of art. I love creating connections. And that’s exactly what I continue to do as an oil painter who regularly teaches children art workshops, directs adult painting retreats and travels to Charlotte or NYC or wherever my soul desires to build more connections and experiences.

Success to me is identifying your SHAPE (an acronym offered by Pastor Rick Warren) standing for:

Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experiences

…and allowing your SHAPE to guide you. I am convinced that if we follow our hearts, while honoring our need to fuel our tanks FIRST, success is sure to follow! And sometimes success looks like one thing “failing” in order to BUILD on another.
Each time I hand over a paintbrush to a child, I am reminded of my success story that continues to be written.

CREATE your SHAPE. Follow your heART. Success awaits…

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My personality is BOLD and unapologetic, much like my impressionistic paintings. My toes in the sand painting out en plein air on a sunny beach offers a me the opportunity to see and feel and be the beauty I see ahead of me…. I am my work, my work is me.

My ultimate goal is to capture the energy of my subject matter as it is felt in person. I believe that this energy is best expressed visually and that the most fascinating works of art transfer this energy to their audience.

I am inspired by light and color. I strive to create works of art with captivating contrasts in value and vibrant color combinations. My paintings currently consist of capturing coastalscapes and still life. Big cumulus clouds above a marsh or beach and florals next to some Charleston Farmers Market finds are like shrimp to my grits.

My focus remains making every brushstroke expressive and intentional. I live and create from my studio located in Charleston, SC. But I often take my traveling studio out en plein air wherever my heart’s eye leads me on a sunny day… with extra fluffy clouds, of course.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sunrise yoga at the beach
Breakfast at Harbinger
Bike ride through the College of Charleston campus, along the Battery and ending at the swings at Joe Riley Waterfront Park
A stroll down Queen to enjoy the work in galleries with Anglin Smith Fine Art and Meyer Vogl being my two MUSTS
A coffee break at Harken
More galleries… I mean shoot we have 30+
A rooftop for happy hour
Dinner at FIG, Malagon or Renzo
An after dinner drink at Graft
A little dancing to some live music at the Commodore
Then zzzzzzzzzzzz
And out on the boat alllllllll day the next day! And we don’t come in til dusk.
Just in time for some outdoor live music at a local brewery.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to EVERY SINGLE PERSON who has ever purchased one of my paintings BIG or small, attended one of my painting retreats and/or sent their child to my summer art camps. As much as I believe in following my SHAPE (Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences to guide my career path, I too recognize that those that BELIEVE in me and support me keep my heART VIBRANT! What is teaching with no students? What is art with no eyes to enjoy? These people give my heART its beats! I am so grateful I COULD SHOUT IT!!!!!!!!

Website: https://Fallonfineart.com

Instagram: Fallonfineart

Image Credits
Devon Donnahoo Photography (all photos of me)
My iPhone for images of my work 🙂