Adrian Chu Redmond earned a marketing degree from Boston College before working in the corporate world for over two decades. She was nearly 50 years old when a series of art lessons set her on an entirely different career path.
Now, she is an internationally acclaimed artist who uses her creative gifts to pin down the ephemeral with a blend of realism and abstraction. With bold brush strokes and bright colors, Adrian Chu Redmond captures moments easily overlooked. Then, she thrusts them before the viewer with vibrancy and energy in an effort to inspire joy, admiration, and an appreciation of the beauty in everything.
“I don’t want anyone to walk by one of my works without feeling something,” says Redmond.
Creating Within a Glass House
Perhaps Redmond’s mid-life career change was predictable. She did, after all, grow up in the shadow of her artistic mother. She spent her childhood in a glass house, surrounded by nature, learning to create art from whatever she and her mother could.
“My mother was an integral part of my love of art,” says Redmond. “If her innate love of creating wasn’t a part of my upbringing, I don’t believe my passion would run as deep as it does.”
Redmond still creates in something of a glass house, in the sense that there is only a thin barrier between her work and the arts community of Charlotte. Creativity and inspiration stream through the glass from both sides, illuminating and inspiring.
Redmond creates from her studio at the Dilworth Artisan Station, a historic warehouse in South End that is a rising hub for creative activity. “To be surrounded by fellow artists and friends is very creatively fulfilling. The energy is perfect for gallery crawls and inviting clients to come see my work and discuss it in person.”
She has also participated in public curated art projects. For example, she was part of The Windows of Hope, which showcased 13 artists in three South End buildings. Additionally, participated in Amplify the Signal, which beautified utility boxes along South Boulevard.
But her favorite annual, community art activity is spending a day painting with the patients at the Levine Children’s Hospital. “Art is healing, and to see these children absorbed in a creative activity, worry and pain-free even if just for a moment, fills the soul of everyone involved,” explains Redmond.
It’s Only the Beginning
Despite having showcased her work throughout Italy, Spain, and the Carolinas, Adrian Chu Redmond’s career is only just beginning.
So, what’s next for this creative talent? “I am in the midst of a very exciting collaboration with a world-renowned fashion designer, where one of my paintings will be made into material for the focus of an exclusive capsule collection,” reveals Redmond.
No matter where her art takes her after this next project, Redmond’s advice to herself will be the same: “To believe in what I do so I will continue to do it better. To remember where there is light there is hope. And to take the time to pause often and be grateful for all you love and have in your life. And in everything, give thanks.”
To view or purchase her work, visit Dilworth Artisan Station, Galleries 811, her website, or her Instagram.
