Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Spangler.
Hi Stacy , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Ever since I was a little girl, my playtime always included creating. Whether it was sewing Barbie clothes with my grandma, painting salt dough ornaments with my mom, illustrating books with my aunt or just drawing or writing alone in my room, creativity has always been something that brought me joy. My favorite summer activities always included art camp and I grew up in a very artistic community with the arts naturally integrated into my early childhood education. As I moved into my teen years, formed the thought that my art was not as good as others and because I could not draw realistically so I stopped pursing those art forms. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s and had my own children’s that I started creating again with them. We would paint in the drive way and the neighborhood kids would join us. Chalk murals on the sidewalks, salt dough ornaments; I started filling my walls with their fun, colorful art. When the housing market crashed in 2007, I was a full time stay at home mom and found myself need to return to work. After a long hiatus from corporate marketing, I wasn’t sure what to do and my best friend suggested I teach art to kids from my home. To me this was the craziest idea i’d ever heard, but she told me to pray about it and said she’d be the first to sign her daughter up for lessons. After two days of praying, Insent out an email to my middle daughters kindergarten moms about possibly doing some after school art classes, and got 15 responses-enough for two classes. This began a 8 year journey of teaching art classes, workshops, and summer camps from a small makeshift studio under our home to over 150 students. In 2013-14 I was asked to teach 5th and 6th grade art at my girls private school, so I did that for a year until we moved. This period of teaching art to children gave me the courage to begin creating again myself. I would see their fearless creativity, their careless abandonment of the rules and just enjoying the process-having fun creating-pure play. So when the studio was empty, and I had plates of the kids left over paint, I started painting again. In 2015 weeks moved back to my childhood town of Fayetteville, Arkansas and I decided to stop teaching children and focus on painting myself. I started posting on social media and my art started selling. In 2017, my art was chosen for the poster art for a popular art show in our region and this jump started my “art career”. My former marketing and sales background has been helpful in diversifying my business to include merchandise, prints, courses and original works, as well as developing partnerships in selling that have help me maintain a profitable business for the past 10 years.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think my biggest struggle has been mindset., I struggled for a long time with even calling myself an artist. Since my art is “fun” art not “fine” art, a lot of circles in the art community do
not take it seriously. I’ve had lots of rejections from shows and galleries but realize now my style is not the best fit for everyone, and that’s ok-I still love the process and it still continues to sell.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Stacy Spangler is a self-taught mixed media artist based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Working primarily in acrylic paint, she creates vibrant, layered compositions that combine paint, collage, and expressive texture. Her process is intuitive and experimental, allowing each work to evolve through building, removing, and reworking surfaces until a sense of balance, energy, and narrative emerges.
Spangler’s work is recognized for its bold use of color, contrasting values, and heavily textured surfaces. She often reimagines familiar subjects—such as flowers, faces, animals, butterflies, and everyday objects—through a whimsical and joyful lens. Her paintings are built through multiple layers using brushes, palette knives, and hand-applied materials, resulting in surfaces that invite close observation and reveal depth over time.
Nature, faith, and color are central influences in her work. Inspired by the beauty of creation and what she describes as God’s visual language in the world around her, Spangler’s paintings often reflect themes of joy, encouragement, and wonder. Each piece becomes both an exploration of visual beauty and a personal expression of meaning and reflection.
Her artistic voice has been shaped by more than a decade of teaching art to children. Observing their fearless creativity and willingness to experiment has deeply influenced her own approach, reinforcing the importance of play, intuition, and process in art-making.
Spangler’s work has been exhibited in juried exhibitions, solo shows, and gallery representations across Arkansas, Florida, and Texas, and has been featured in publications and on Magnolia Network’s Bargain Mansions. She continues to create work that invites viewers into a colorful, expressive world rooted in curiosity, faith, and joy.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
One is to Be a life long learner-continue to try new things, learn from others, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Most people are very helpful and generous. Another is to remember that we are all created to create-Created in His image- and he has a plan just for you in your unique creative journey.
Pricing:
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Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stacyspanglerart.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/stacyspanglerart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacyspanglerart
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/stacy-spangler-art
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/c/StacySpanglerART
