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She’s paid to color on walls
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Artist Linda Clark of Hubbard recently completed a beach mural scene in the office at Helping Hands Pediatrics in Sharon, Pa. In the window-less work space, Clark created out-the-window views of the ocean and beach and a large mural of a beach scene. She worked around office equipment to do the paintings.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
With her paint pallet at hand, Linda Clark selects the right color or mixes colors to achieve the effect she wants to create in a beach scene mural.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
HUBBARD
As a child, Linda Clark can remember being chided for coloring on the wall. As an adult, she is getting paid to do just that.
Clark credited her school teachers in Boardman with nurturing her artistic talent. She recalled elementary and middle-school art teachers who she said “influenced me a lot.”
That continued in high school, where she learned watercolor. She further refined her watercolor skills under the tutelage of Mary Kay D’Isa, an art instructor at Youngstown State University. At YSU, she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree. She worked as a graphic designer for 20 years.
She’s done many watercolors including notable local sites such as Lanterman’s Mill at MillCreek MetroPark and the Trumbull County Courthouse. She also paints watercolors of family residences from photos and pet portraits. She even renders children’s portraits as pencil sketches.
About 15 years ago, Clark began doing murals. “I did a couple for friends in their children’s bedrooms,” she said. She uses acrylic- latex paint. Word of mouth spread the news of her ability.
Her murals, with a multitude of themes, may be found at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown and Sharon Regional Health System in Sharon, Pa. She said she’s heard comments from staff and patients about how the murals have a calming quality and serve as a distraction from medical procedures.
At Trumbull Memorial’s wound-care center, Clark said she fashioned an underwater scene with dolphins. “People have told me they feel like they’re deep-sea diving,” Clark said.
Austin Village Nursing Home also has a mural in its Alzheimer’s unit where Clark said she painted a front porch and a tree swing in a garden setting. She selected those ideas because they might be memories for residents.
A mural in the Grange Building at the Canfield Fairgrounds features a farm theme; vegetables grow in a garden mural at Peas in a Pod Day Care.
In private homes, her distinctive murals reflect owners’ interests. For one homeowner, Clark said she will be doing an Italian-cook theme as a tribute to the woman’s late father, who was a chef.
Beach scenes are popular choices, Clark said. A mural she recently completed at Helping Hands Pediatrics, Sharon, Pa., is for the office employees in a windowless work area. Clark created a “window on the world” overlooking the water and a beach scene.
“No two jobs are the same,” Clark said, adding that because each assignment is different, the work remains fresh.
At Welding Equipment Repair in Lowellville, Clark created a large mural to advertise the “Cruisin’ the River” and bike night. It was sponsored by Lowellville Business Association and Cruisin’ by the River Car Club. She did another car mural for Mahoning Auto in North Jackson. Such large, outdoor work may involve scaffolding, which Clark would rather avoid. “The exterior ones are a challenge, because it’s usually not a smooth surface,” Clark said.
The murals are basically maintenance-free but should an indoor wall get dirty, a cleaning with water should suffice. “If you get tired of it, you can paint over it,” Clark said. But, she added, some parents who commissioned murals for nurseries can’t bear to update.
For more on Clark and her artwork, visit www.valleyartistportfolio.com and www.findamuralist.com.