My name is Matthew “Mac” Chapel, and I’m an oil painter, builder, and lifelong creator. I was born and raised in Southern California, spending a few years of my childhood in Baltimore before returning to the place I will always call home.
I grew up in an incredible family with two amazing parents and four awesome brothers. The five of us were all born within just six and a half years of each other, so we’ve always been incredibly close. Although we’re all very different in our personalities and interests, we share the same values, love for one another, and adventurous spirit. My parents and brothers have been one of the greatest blessings in my life and continue to encourage and support me through every chapter. Above all, my faith in God is the foundation of who I am and the greatest source of inspiration behind everything I create.
I’ve lived a life filled with adventure and have worn a lot of different hats. I’ve worked as a commercial fisherman off the California coast, a Laguna Beach lifeguard, a carpenter, helped rehabilitate mobile home parks throughout the South, worked in digital advertising in downtown Los Angeles, studied art, served four years as a United States Marine, and later worked in equipment finance. Every experience taught me something valuable, but none of them fulfilled me the way creating art and building meaningful places does.
I’ve loved drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I found endless inspiration in artists like Caravaggio, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, David Hockney, Chuck Close, and many others. Their work showed me that art has the power to outlive us—that a single painting can continue inspiring people for generations.
For years, painting full-time felt like an impossible dream. In 2025, after receiving several commissions from a close friend who believed in my work, I reached a crossroads. I was balancing a full-time career in finance, renovating Oasis Ranch almost entirely by myself, and trying to paint whenever I could find the time. I realized that if I wanted to live the life I dreamed about, I had to stop treating art like a hobby and start treating it like my calling. I stepped away from finance and committed myself fully to becoming the artist I had always wanted to be.
At the same time, Oasis Ranch became much more than a renovation project. It became another creative outlet—a living work of art. Nearly every improvement has been designed and built with my own hands, often using reclaimed materials, repurposed wood, and pieces of the Mojave Desert that most people would overlook. Like my paintings, the ranch continues to evolve, with each project adding another layer to its story.
Today, my life revolves around two passions: creating artwork that people can treasure for a lifetime and building unforgettable experiences at Oasis Ranch. Whether someone hangs one of my paintings in their home or spends a weekend beneath the desert stars, my hope is the same—that they leave feeling inspired, refreshed, and a little more connected to the beauty God has placed all around us. Both my artwork and Oasis Ranch are works in progress, and I hope they always will be. My dream is to continue creating, learning, and giving back for the rest of my life, leaving behind beautiful things that serve others long after I’m gone.