One Artist’s Step By Step Approach To Mural Art

By Steve Bigham

Artist Kira Van Deusen has been stepping up her creativity these days as can be seen in her latest project on the front steps of the home of Megan Rice at 1 Schoolhouse Hill Road.

On her hands and knees, Mrs Van Deusen is painting scenes of Newtown to the delight of passers-by. Her finished project is expected to be complete in time for the December 5th Christmas Festival. The home will be open to the public during the house tour portion of the festival.

“I hope to be finished before it snows,” said the artist who resides on Taunton Lake Road.

Ms Rice, the daughter of George and Ellie Whalen of 66 Main Street, purchased the home at the corner of Schoolhouse Hill and Hanover roads this past April. She hired the Newtown artist after the two met at a Whalen tag sale this past spring.

“I paint a lot of furniture, and I bought a chair there,” Ms Van Deusen explained. “They seemed interested so I took two I had painted out of my car. I gave them my card and I was painting there soon after.”

Much of the painting being done by Van Deusen Designs is taking place inside. She has painted murals on a runner along the interior stairs, on the dishwasher, and in the kitchen. She is also painting a poem around the dining room.

But it is the exterior mural that is there for all to see. The steps include paintings of the General Store, Edmond Town Hall, The Bee, the Whalen house and the Rice house.

A self-proclaimed art room rat, Ms Van Deusen, 35, says she has been painting since she was three years old. In college, she received a minor in fine arts and a major in education. However, “I found out that I would rather paint myself than teach it. I have to be in the middle of it,” she said.

Kira Van Deusen resides in Newtown with her husband, Jeffrey, and their six-year-old son, Vitaly. She has exhibited paintings, murals and furniture in Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Florida, Indiana and South Carolina. Several of her pieces are currently on display at DiGrazia Vineyard in Brookfield.426-6425