my paintings.....some whisper, some disrupt, all reveal
What Collectors Have Expressed About My Paintings
“The Refusal Mark” is one of the best abstracts I’ve seen in a very LONG time. E. Myers
Your work continues to get better and better! Your talent is definitely world-class. P. Nanuk
The painting I bought from you holds a connection I can feel each time I look at it, as though the experience is unfolding again and again. C. Thomas
I love yet another piece I have collected from you. Each piece reflects different aspects of my own journey. I get lost in your work, there is always more to see, to feel, to witness. R. Dahiya
About Cheryl
Cheryl Wilson is an abstract artist whose work is shaped by memory, movement, and the layered language of emotional expression. Raised in a military family, she traveled extensively throughout her childhood, an experience that contributed to her expansive visual sensibility and intuitive approach to composition.
Her father was the conductor for the Air Force Band, and much of her early life was spent listening to rehearsals, compositions, and the structure of music as it came alive in the band room. Surrounded by sound, rhythm, and creative energy, Wilson developed a sensitivity to movement, tension, and flow that continues to inform her work today.
As a middle child and latchkey kid, she also spent many hours alone, where art became both refuge and voice. While creativity was encouraged in her environment, Wilson naturally gravitated toward paper, crayons, chalk, and visual mark-making as her primary form of expression. Those early experiences remain embedded in her practice.
Wilson’s paintings often begin in a place of raw energy and experimentation. Through layered surfaces, texture, markings, and intuitive line work, she allows each piece to evolve organically. She frequently rotates the canvas during the process, inviting new perspectives and allowing the painting itself to guide its development. The resulting works carry a sense of history, discovery, and emotional resonance.
Her art is known for its textured surfaces, soulful abstraction, and the tension it holds between quiet restraint and expressive disruption. Cheryl Wilson creates work for collectors and interiors seeking depth, presence, and a lasting emotional connection.
As soon as my brush touches the canvas, something magical begins to happen. My brush seems to take on my emotions, translating what is deeply felt into marks, movement, and my own personal signature. Each painting I create is unique, born from a place of depth within me.
I am often asked, “What is your inspiration?”
The truth is, I do not paint what I see. I paint what I feel — often from memories, emotion, and something stirring just beneath the surface. To me, inspiration is the power that moves what lives within us into expression. It is a gift. I believe inspiration is always present, but in the busyness of life, we can miss it. We can become so distracted that we block the very thing that might move us from stagnation into creation. Sometimes that inspiration comes quietly. Other times it arrives unexpectedly, like the time Mozart and the powerful sound of a string quartet playing in the background inspired my Vertigo pieces.
My hope is that my work will do the same for others — that it will speak to you, move you, stir something in you, or perhaps even make you dream.
I am an Air Force veteran living in Knoxville, Tennessee. I love coffee, espresso, and the sacred, passionate process of painting. For over a decade, I have been creating, exhibiting, and selling multi-layered, textured abstract paintings to collectors, corporations, and interior designers. My work is often described as intuitive, embracing spontaneity and allowing passionate paintings to emerge through a transformative layering process of acrylics and inks. Each layer informs the next, building a story through paint. On any given day, my studio is filled with large canvases covered in texture, line, and history — each one telling a story in its own way.
My paintings have appeared on HGTV and Magnolia Network’s Bargain Mansions, and are held in residences near Buckingham Palace, on Park Avenue in New York, and in many other beautiful homes around the world. My work has also been shown at the Artists in Middleburg Gallery, the Art League Gallery, and Saatchi Art.
At the heart of it all, I want my art to be a place where people can embrace their own individuality and create surroundings that reflect who they truly are. I often tell my clients, “Your place should be as unique as you are.” Your space is where your voice lives. It is where you return to yourself, where you rest, dream, entertain, and gather strength. It should be filled with things that speak to you, inspire you, and tell your personal story.
That is especially important to me when I create commissioned work. When I paint a commission, I want to know as much as I can about the person who will live with the piece, because I believe a part of them should somehow be revealed in the artwork. The painting should not simply match the room. It should belong to the life being lived there.
I believe your space should reflect your inner voice.
I believe your space should motivate you and calm you at the same time.
I believe your surroundings should be as unique as you are, leading you toward clarity, joy, and a deeper sense of home.
— Cheryl
© 2026 by Cheryl Wilson, Abstract Artist
Intentional Artist®