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Artistic Family Turns Walls Into Works Of Art

Photo from Art Inherited

Carol Mecum works on a mural in the Land O' Lakes home of Craig and Nancy Farr. Mecum, her daughter Bambi Park and her sister D.J. Stevens run Art Inherited.

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BY JENNIFER HOWELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 10, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - The artists of Art Inherited in Land O' Lakes have spent their lifetimes creating fine art, although the bulk of it isn't painted on a canvas nor can it be viewed in a gallery.

D.J. Stevens, Carol Mecum and Caren Clisset are sisters who, along with Mecum's daughter Bambi Park, offer their talent to homeowners who would like a mural or an art finish painted on the walls of their homes. They have compiled several thick books of photos of their work. From fairy tale princess bedrooms for little girls to a realistic island scene painted in an entryway, their work lends itself to a high-end clientele with large homes.

"What we do is expensive because it's very labor intensive," said Stevens, who handles the initial consultation with clients. "My sisters are extremely talented and fast."

Stevens, Mecum, Clisset and Park, are just part of this family story. The legacy of art began with the sisters' mother, Billie Jean Stevens, who died in 2001. She had the opportunity to become a professor of art at the University of Tampa, but decided to marry and raise a family of 11 children instead.

Rather than teaching college students, Billie Jean Stevens taught her children while leading them in art projects at home.

"When you have that many children, there's always something to do when you have art," Clisset said. "We worked in different media, from crayons, watercolor to oils and ceramics."

The sisters have had to show a range of style as adults, as well. Clisset says she has grown as an artist because she has had to fulfill such diverse requests for Art Inherited.

"It's been really great," said Clisset, 57. "We've worked with top designers and we've grown to where we can do just about anything. Usually an artist has one style. But we have to be so flexible because there might be an impressionistic desire over here, a realistic desire over here or a cartoonistic desire over here, and we have to fulfill those desires."

The women help the clients realize their desires, and then bring them to fruition.

In August, Art Inherited completed a mural in the Oakstead home of Craig and Nancy Farr in Land O' Lakes. The couple had a painting of a city garden terrace as seen through a window pane that they hung in their dining room, but they wanted to do more to decorate the walls. So, they hired Art Inherited, and the end result includes a mural of a doorway leading out onto a terrace to match the painting of the window.

"Our dining room is so much more pleasant," Craig Farr said. "People's reactions have been anywhere from astonishment to excitement. A few people have wanted to walk through it."

One of their larger projects was painting a mural in Northwest Community Church on Hutchison Road that depicts the life of Jesus. The artists volunteered their time to complete the scenes, and their work can be viewed at www.sermononthewall.com.

While Stevens, 63, admits they aren't getting rich, she says they are happy and feel lucky to be doing what they love for a living.

"We're not stuck behind a desk," she said. "We're very fortunate."

For Park, a Lakeland resident, the work allows her to spend time with family and pursue her calling.

"I really enjoy that it's different every day," said the 31-year-old Land O' Lakes High School graduate. "I enjoy changing a child's environment. It sparks that creativity. I think it is neat how God made us this way, how He gave us this gift."

The women like sharing their gift with the clients. Mecum says using her artistry and creativity to paint something that uniquely reflects a person's tastes is her favorite part of what she does.

"I enjoy making people happy," she said. "I bring in the colors, the trends, what they like and then I create something."

In a business driven by word of mouth, it seems the customers have been very happy.

Their business has grown since the early nineties, and their reputation has led them to jobs on Park Avenue in the home of a New York City doctor and to a home in the Bahamas with all expenses paid by the clients, another perk of the job.

"The stories we could tell," Clisset said. "It has taken me many places. I've painted a church in France. I've been to Michigan, the Cayman Islands."

While the majority of Art Inherited's clients are top income earners, there is a market in the middle income bracket for mural work in children's rooms, an area parents are more likely to use their expendable income, Stevens said.

She also says the art finishes, which, unlike faux finishes, do not rely on a technique, are popular and not as expensive as the murals. For an art finish, the client chooses a "feeling word" such as sophisticated or crisp, and a color palette, and the artist creates an original finish for the room.

For information, visit www.artinherited.com.

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