My name is Aliyah Chastain. I live on a farm in Western North Carolina. I am a mostly self-taught artist and work in charcoal, graphite, colored pencil, and PanPastel. Art is my passion and I have been honing my skills since the age of 11.

Graphite is the medium I started in and is still my favorite due to its versatility and the dramatic effect of light and dark coming together to create an image. I work in charcoal for the same reasons, there is just something about black and white that I love. Colored pencil is a more recently acquired skill. I learned the techniques needed to give me confidence in colored pencils from Teresa Pennington.

My inspiration comes from God’s creation. The name of my business, “Imitations of Creation” is based on my belief that all art created by human hands is an imitation of the original unrivaled majesty created by God. He is the one true artist. It is my intent to share this message with as many who will listen.