BY BARBARA WYLAN SEFTON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN SOBCZAK

S

Stacy Schwartz (above) creates murals in homes and

businesses. Stacy hugs her niece and nephew (right)

beneath a mural of enchanting dragons.

16 •

MAY 2002 • STYLE AT THE Jti

tacy Schwartz always leaves a
place better than she found it.
Just give her a day or two alone
in one of your rooms and you'll
be pleasantly surprised. That's just
what happened when an expectant
friend invited Schwartz to her home to
see the baby's room. "She asked me
what to do with the room," explains
Schwartz. "I told her to just lock me in
there for awhile and let me go to town!
I had so much fun with the walls that I
decided I wanted to create murals as a
career and not just as a hobby."
Murals Incorporated of Ypsilanti
(www.muralsinc.com ) is Schwartz's
dream come true. The former art
teacher now spends her days creating
a variety of customized murals in both
homes and businesses. "I just finished
painting the walls at Planet Baby in
Canton. I did a wall of babies of all
nationalities sleeping on clouds," she
says.
With a few cans of semi-gloss latex
house paint and endless imagination,
Schwartz spends anywhere from 24 to
56 concentrated hours creating a full
size (9x13 ft.) wall mural. "I sketch
the entire mural on the wall first," she
explains. "The semi-gloss paints are
kid friendly, so handprints wipe right
off." Prices for Schwartz's original
murals range from $200-$2,000.
One of Schwartz's favorite murals is
"San Francisco," which incorporates
memories of her childhood and visits
to the city itself. "The dollhouse, with
cardboard cutouts, is electrical. At
night you can see all these lit-up
houses on the hill," she says.
A native of West Bloomfield,
Schwartz makes her home in Ypsilanti
with husband, Daniel. "Children's
rooms are the most fun to work on,"
Schwartz admits. "Just to hear par-
ents talk about the expressions on
their children's faces when they look
at the animals on the wall makes me
feel so good."