Most of us love to pack our bags and head out to wonderful places on occasion. Just to be in an environment different from our hectic daily grind speaks volumes to our souls. How is it that our covetous two-week vacations seem to virtually dissipate into thin air? While I likely wouldn’t have much luck negotiating with your boss for that extra week off you’ve dreamed of, I can offer you a way to virtually “remove” your walls thus making everyday more like a vacation.
Enter Stephanie Conroy, also known as The English Artist. Stephanie has a wonderful ability to create environments. It is hard to imagine when you see her designs that the atmospheres you find yourself immersed in were created with mere strokes of her paintbrush. What is even more amazing is that Stephanie’s creations are not a result of any formal training, but rather a natural talent she discovered only a decade ago.
By vocation, Stephanie is a registered nurse. While training in London for her nursing degree, she became fast friends with an American who had intentions of returning to the States upon completion of the program. With the idea of experiencing a different country, it did not take much for her friend to convince Stephanie to return with her. The pair arrived in Texas in 1978. Stephanie would divide the next ten years between El Paso and Beaumont. Never straying far from her artistic side, she painted the windows and doors of the nurse’s stations in holiday themes.
In 1988, Stephanie returned to England to help her parents with their vision of acquiring a bed and breakfast and craft center. During this time, though staying busy with her nursing schedule, Stephanie decided to make time to take an interior design course. While interested in the diverse aesthetics achieved by various means, she found herself continually drawn back to the wonder that could be realized through paint.
Ten years after returning to England, Stephanie made two major decisions. First, she wanted to move back to the States and, second, she wanted to leave the nursing field. Returning to El Paso, she forged ahead by opening her own business on October 1, 1998, with little more than her paintbrush and a dream. She knew she would need some way to showcase her work and so she began by painting her first six murals on walls in her own home. She then photographed the murals, created a portfolio and began submitting it to area interior designers.
A mere six months from the time she opened her studio, Stephanie was asked to paint in several houses to be featured in the El Paso Association of Builder’s Parade of Homes. Not only was her work a tremendous hit, but a little mouse that she had painted in one room was mentioned in The El Paso Times and the little fellow took on a life if his own – taking Stephanie right along with him. Every year since, visitors to the featured homes spend part of their tours looking around inquisitively in each room trying to find where the little mouse is this year. It’s almost like a giant Easter egg hunt. Invariably, if they look hard enough, they will find him in one of the homes. He may be characterized as an “accountant mouse” holding a calendar with a big circle around April 14th in one hand and a martini glass in the other, or he could be in any number of other forms, but rest assured, he is somewhere.
Stephanie’s work is not only incredibly beautiful but versatile as well. One homeowner loved the time she spent in Provence and longed for the beauty of the scenery when she returned home. With this in mind, Stephanie did not simply paint her kitchen, but transformed it into an incredible French landscape. Surrounded by scenes of cozy villages nestled into hilltops and fields of lavender and sunflowers, the homeowner can enjoy (and share with guests) memories of the region year-round.
Another environment Stephanie created is a master bathroom. Themed with women and wine, it is an enchanting room. Different scenes show women talking and laughing while enjoying “a bit of the grape”. In beautifully detailed ball gowns, some have taken off their shoes to cool their feet in an outside fountain while some watch a distant Elvis perform. Even “Sophie”, who clearly has had her share of the festivities, is charming and brings a smile to your face.
Speaking of smiles, it seems smiles thread their way through all of Stephanie’s work. When you meet her, you find her smiling, and she smiles easily. Somehow (don’t ask me how) she manages to impart that in her work. To see Stephanie’s work is to smile, and to stay a while in one of her environments is to allow yourself to be transported somewhere happy. Perhaps you’re at a ball or maybe on a hillside in France. Wherever you are, rest assured, you are smiling and there are no fences.
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