Mural Artist Gives Homes Unique Look ~ Article in the Free Lance-Star Newspaper

Spotsylvania County woman brings lifelike murals and other decorative touches to homes with the most affordable medium: paint.

Date published: 6/6/2008, This article ran in the Free Lance-Star in the Fredericksburg, Virginia region.

By CATHY DYSON

Janese Simunek’s business blends one-of-a-kind creations with the cheapest art form available.

She paints.

But she doesn’t simply “straight paint”–her term for someone who covers walls with the color of eggshell, ecru or the infamous off-white.

She has a higher purpose for acrylic or latex. She uses it to give walls or tables, corners or cabinets the look of marble, wood or leather.

“Painting is one of the easiest, quickest, cheapest ways to transform your home,” she said.

Since Simunek started Wall Creations by Janese seven years ago, she has added decorative touches to more than 300 homes in the Fredericksburg area.

She charges by the project and has done work in modular homes and mini-mansions. Her murals range from $300 to $3,500.

Business has been so brisk that Simunek’s husband, Melvin Brown, quit his job as a mechanic two years ago to work with her.

The two have done little advertising other than to paint the company name on a purple van the color of Barney the dinosaur. They’ve stayed busy even as the real-estate market soured, said Simunek, who lives in Spotsylvania County.

“Because homes aren’t selling, I think people are saying, ‘Let’s take the one we have and make it awesome,’ ” she said. “Because we do all the speciality painting, we stay very busy.”

Simunek and her crew recently spent more than a month at the home of Angela and Paul Mella in Cherry Hills Estates. The North Stafford residents saw Simunek at a home show and were impressed with her skills and timely response.

“She was prompt about calling back, and not everybody does that,” Angela Mella said.

When Simunek walked through the double doors of the Mellas’ luxury home, her goal was to paint a 5- by 7-foot mural on the massive wall of the family room.

The Mellas wanted a Mediterranean seascape to complement their Italian furnishings.

Simunek’s scene features a gravel walkway, winding around billowing palm trees and leading uphill to a stately villa. The water is turquoise, the scene tranquil.

“It just looks like a beautiful place to be,” said Angela Mella, who regularly reminds herself how much she wants to visit Italy, one day.

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