Column: Shorelines

Photos courtesy of Joe Swistak

A Caribbean scene in a bathroom is one of two murals that Stephanie Rickman painted in the Swistak's home.

Stephanie Rickman, 24, in front of the lake scene she painted leading to the basement.

Little did Stephanie Rickman know that facing her fear of large blank canvases would bring others so much joy. It was a college professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg who made Rickman think big. Now lake residents are reaping the benefits.

"I used to be afraid of doing large art work," recalled Rickman. "I liked doing small detailed work, but I had a professor in college that just challenged us and forced us to do huge canvases. I ended up falling in love with doing bigger work."

Rickman, 24, grew up outside of Philadelphia, Penn. She moved to Virginia to go to college. Art has always been her passion so she chose it as her major.

Rickman now lives in Wirtz with her husband, Isaiah. When she moved to the lake she began teaching. Last year she taught first- and second-graders as well as art at Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy. This year, she trimmed her duties to just teaching art.

"I am going back to school in the fall to get my masters in teaching," said Rickman. "I'm going to do that online."

Smith Mountain Lake residents first saw Rickman's work at Halesford Baptist Church earlier this year. She painted a 20-foot-by-11-foot backdrop for the church's Easter play "Cry of Christ."

Now she is making house calls. A friend of a friend of a friend mentioned her work to Dawn Swistak. The Swistaks were looking for someone to transform a bland bathroom into a Caribbean retreat.

"We interviewed her and we interviewed several other people and we decided to go with Stephanie," said Swistak. "I liked her work. The art she does is very realistic. It has depth to it we were looking for."

Rickman painted two murals in the Swistaks' lakefront Moneta home: a lake scene over the stairs leading to the basement and a Caribbean beachscape in a powder room. The Swistaks told Rickman they wanted palm trees, sand and the ocean in their Caribbean mural. Rickman filled in the other details.

"When you're sitting down it's like you're right on the beach," said Swistak of the Caribbean scene that surrounds a bathroom toilet. "She also did the door, so when you close the door it's like you're looking out a window onto a beach. It's really fantastic."

"The mural over our stairs leading to the basement is of the lake and mountains, a view we really like, and she put us in it too," continued Swistak.

"You just have to be confident in your ability," said Rickman about painting in someone's home. "I felt comfortable doing what they'd asked, doing the Caribbean scene and the lake scene. The murals turned out like I hoped they would."

Teaching art has also become a passion of Rickman's. She should finish her master's degree in teaching in a year and a half to two years.

"I really would love to teach middle school or high school art," said Rickman. "I had an awesome teacher in high school that really pushed me and directed me. I would love to be able to help kids who have that ability and that desire."

She is already planning her next mural. "I'm going to try to do it in the next year or so. My parents live on the lake and they are huge Philadelphia Phillies fans so I was going to paint the stadium that's up there in Philadelphia. We'll see how it works out."

For more information, contact Stephanie Rickman at 488-2315 or stefski07@gmail.com.