Amy Stump has been an artist for about 30 years, but she has never had more fun than she recently did completing a mural project at Pillars Castle in St. Augustine.
According to Stump, she has been doing more murals in homes over the years, especially since the pandemic and people have been spending more time in their homes.
Jeanine Peterson is an owner of Pillars Castle and reached out to Stump about the possibility of doing such a project.
According to Peterson, owning a castle is something out of the ordinary, but owning rare and eclectic buildings has always been a passion of hers.
“It’s so unique, and I love the name ‘Queen Jeanine,’” Peterson said.
Peterson expressed wanting to have a room of the castle that captured the history and vibes of the area.
“This was an opportunity to just let it play out and see where it would take me,” Stump said.
As a result, Stump let her creativity take over and she painted the wall of the bedroom to look like a giant postcard designed to welcome anyone who walks into the room.
“It was a lot of fun, because I love doing lettering,” Stump said. “Not many paint letters by hand nowadays, but that’s exactly what I chose to do.”
Although the project was large in scale, it only took a couple of days to complete, with most of that time being the prep work leading up to the actual artwork.
At first, she put her idea into Photoshop to help map out and get an idea of how it might look.
“It’s a mixture of typography, fine art and graphic design,” Stump said. “It all has to come together.”
Stump has experience with large scale projects, having completed several murals on walls of businesses, including at Burkins Chevrolet in Macclenny.
According to Stump, that project required her to paint letters that were 33-feet wide and 14-feet tall.
Not only does Stump have a knack for murals, but she also expresses her creative talents as a furniture artist and serves as a substitute teacher in St. Johns County.
“You have to have the mental flexibility to jump from project to project,” Stump said. “I pretty much knew from the first day I held a pencil that being an artist was for me. I love seeing how my hands can make something.”
The castle was originally built by local sculptor Charles Pillars, who is most famous for constructing the “Life” statue at Memorial Park in Riverside.
Mark Krancer took the now famous photo of Pillars’ statue surrounded by water from an overflowing St. Johns River because of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Krancer is friends with Stump and she found it fascinating learning about the history of the castle and the life of Charles Pillars during the project.
“It was special to know the history behind it and it really meant something as a fellow artist,” Stump said.
The challenge at hand with a certain project is always something that Stump really enjoys about being an artist.
“Especially when you’re doing something that hasn’t been done before,” Stump said. “Art is all about being courageous and not being afraid to take chances.”
To view more of Stump’s murals and artwork, visit Amy Arts Jax on Facebook.
The Pillars Castle consists of three stories and seven different roof lines.
“No nails were used in the construction,” Peterson said. “It is all Spanish title.”
The castle is expected to hit the market for people to rent on Aug. 15. For more information, visit PillarsCastle.com.
