All Posts

When the NOLA Zydeco Fest team asked me to create this year's official festival poster, I knew it had to feel like a homecoming. For our community, this festival is more than music and food. It's where families come together and where young people learn where they come from. Honoring two culture bearers From the very beginning, the festival and I knew we wanted to honor two people who carry Creole culture everywhere they go: Robin Barnes and Rusty Metoyer. Rusty picked up the

New Orleans has always painted itself into my work — but this piece is different. I've been named the 2026 poster artist for the Tremé Fall Festival, commissioned by Friends of Tremé Culture, and my painting, Culture Beats in Tremé, will be this year's official festival artwork. Why I Painted This as the 2026 Tremé Fall Festival Poster Artist Tremé isn't just another New Orleans neighborhood — it's the oldest African-American neighborhood in the entire United States, the birt

Twenty Years Later: The Blocked Punt, a Grocery Store Friendship, and the Night Hope Came Home Twenty years ago this week, Steve Gleason blocked a punt in the Superdome, and a whole city found its voice again. Most people remember where they were that night. I remember exactly where I was, because I was sitting with his family. Before he was a symbol of rebirth for New Orleans, Steve was one of my favorite customers at Whole Foods. He'd come through my line all the time, a la

Top Ten thats not bad...out of all the WEDDING PAINTERS of the world! Some honors sneak up on you. This is one of them. I was recently named #8 on Feedspot's Top 45 Live Wedding Painter Influencers list for 2026 — a worldwide ranking of the live wedding painters making the biggest impact on Instagram right now. Out of an entire global field of working live wedding painters, landing in the top ten still feels a little unreal to say out loud. What This List Actually Measures Fe

Some of the most meaningful pieces I've ever painted never made it into a press release or a feature article. They just quietly lived in the spaces they were made for, seen by thousands of fans who probably never knew who painted them. This is the story behind two of those pieces — and why, even without the spotlight, they mean as much to me as anything I've ever done. The Corner Office: Painting a Tribute to Mr. Benson In 2018, the Saints opened the Corner Office Specialty C

People often ask me where my love of color and culture comes from. The honest answer is simple: it comes from home. I was born and raised in Gentilly, a neighborhood that shaped how I see this city long before I ever picked up a paintbrush. A Neighborhood Built on Higher Ground Gentilly sits on one of the highest ridges in New Orleans, a natural rise in the land that traces all the way back to an ancient course of the Mississippi River. The name itself is a corruption of "Cha

Saints Quarterback wearing Christina's Handpainted Cleats raising awareness for United Way of Southeast Some honors take a while to fully sink in. Being the first artist ever selected for the New Orleans Saints' My Cause My Cleats program is one of them. What is My Cause My Cleats? My Cause My Cleats is an NFL-wide initiative that gives players a chance to shine a light on causes close to their hearts. Each player chooses a nonprofit or organization that matters to them perso

People sometimes ask me where I paint. The honest answer is: almost everywhere. Over the years, live event painting has taken me — and a piece of New Orleans with me — into more than 25 states and Washington, D.C. Every canvas I've set up outside Louisiana has been a chance to carry a little bit of home into someone else's biggest day. Here's a look back at (most of) the places this journey has taken me. The Northeast New Jersey has had me back twice, including a stunning wat

Some invitations feel like a homecoming, and this was one of them. As part of Mount Carmel Academy's 100 Years in Lakeview celebration, I was invited back to my alma mater on February 25 to join the Empowering Women Alumnae Panel — one of thirteen graduates asked to sit down with current students and speak honestly about life after Mount Carmel. (Read Mount Carmel's recap of the Empowering Women Alumnae Panel here.) A Panel Spanning Generations Sitting alongside alumnae rangi

There are moments in this journey as an artist that stop me in my tracks and remind me exactly where I come from — and this is one of them. My painting Footlifter, an acrylic on canvas capturing the joy and movement of a New Orleans second-line parade, now hangs inside the newly renovated Motherhouse at Mount Carmel Academy, my alma mater (Class of 2002). Christina Pappion, Mount Carmel Cheerleader and Track Team I was one of a small group of alumnae, former teachers, and a b

Hey friend, I'm overflowing with gratitude and excitement, and I wanted you to be among the first to know what's been happening behind the easel! 🎨 TWO NEW FESTIVAL POSTER COMMISSIONS I've been commissioned to create not one, but TWO festival posters this year! Both pieces will be released soon, and I can't wait for you to see them. Press conferences for both are coming shortly, so stay tuned for dates and details. 💛 SUMMER SALE — 15% OFF As a thank you for being part of th

New Orleans live wedding painter Christina Pappion travels to Brooklyn to paint Alessandra & Lucas's wedding at Giando on the Water — see the story. Painting Love on the East River: A New Orleans Artist Travels to Brooklyn for Alessandra & Lucas There's a particular kind of magic in packing an easel, brushes, and watercolors into a suitcase and crossing state lines for love. That's exactly what brought me from New Orleans to Brooklyn, New York — to Giando on the Water, a wate

People ask me all the time how I became a New Orleans artist. My answer is always the same: I didn't become one. I was born one. I grew up in Gentilly — one of the most deeply New Orleans neighborhoods in this city. I went to Mount Carmel Academy. I earned my BFA from the University of New Orleans. I never left, not really, because I never wanted to. Everything I needed to become the artist I am today was already here. Growing Up in New Orleans — Where Art Is Everywhere When