Born in Fayette, Alabama, Chumbley — the middle of three children — was raised in Middle Georgia. Despite an extremely difficult childhood, James-Randall persevered; he eventually graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, studying art and psychology — discovering and exploring his love of beauty and the difficulties and struggles often associated with achieving it.
“Art has always been an escape for me even as a young child. I would hide away in a closet or a corner with paper and crayons drawing places to run away from the yelling and screaming that echoed off the walls of a house that was never a home, as well as from my father’s brutality."
After graduating from Mercer, the artist moved to Atlanta — biggest city, closest to home — out of family obligations. As well, for a short period, Chumbley lived bicoastal between Atlanta and Los Angeles. Wasting little time, he began working toward making a name for himself in the eclectic, yet welcoming, art world. It was at this time, he began to explore another outlet for his creativity—the written word. It started with poems and short stories from the journals he began writing in junior high school as an outlet to deal with his traumatic childhood of abuse and violence. James-Randall continued to journal, becoming an obsession to document his multifaceted life as a young man. As he continued to paint, those poems and short stories transitioned to his first book, “In the Arms of Adam: a diary of men.” It was later followed by two others, “Before the Last Dance” and “Alabama Snow.”
For many years, Chumbley has been involved in volunteerism within several organizations, including: AIDS, Abused Women and Children, Youth, Homelessness, Equal Rights, and Mental Health — donating his art which encompasses contemporary landscapes, minimalism to abstracts, and nudes using the media of oils, acrylics, wax, varnish, and photography. The artist is best known for his large mixed media abstract paintings often incorporating ideograms and symbols into his work. His paintings harken back to the era of abstract expressionism with his broad painterly brushwork and naïve l'art brut drawing style. His work has been represented in nine galleries over his career and has found its way to many impressive private and corporate collections across the country and abroad.
"I hope I’ve helped people through my art as well as my writing. I find that each artwork writes a story as writing is very much like painting with words."
In July of 2013, the artist and writer moved to the Palm Springs area of California - returning after some thirty-two years. He remains dedicated to his art and writing, and continues to be generous with his work, donating it to many of those worthwhile charitable organizations when asked. Chumbley states, “Donating my work to help others gives my life a true purpose.” He tries to live by three rules: Love more than you’re loved, Give more than you take, And leave it better than you found it. "All that is good inside of me, comes from my mother, "has often been stated by the artist and writer.
In January of 2016, James-Randall moved to the foothills of a small community of Desert Hot Springs — ten miles above Palm Springs — where he lives in an iconic Mid-Century home. He says, "California is where I’ve always belonged." He is presently completing his fourth book project as he continues to paint.