-- Magic Wand Murals, the studio of artist Nancy Illman, announced a renewed focus on commissioned murals centered on family heritage, personal memory, and objects of sentimental significance for each client. The approach positions Illman's work as an alternative to conventional decorative art by grounding each piece in a client's own history rather than a generic design template.
Photo Courtesy of Magic Wand Murals
Central to this focus is the amount of time Illman spends with clients before any design work begins. She frequently conducts in-home consultations, during which she observes a family's existing aesthetic choices and discusses their ancestry, travels, collections, and personal passions in order to identify what might be most meaningful to include in a finished piece.
A Mural Artist First
Illman is, first and foremost, a mural artist. She paints mostly on walls, but her commissions also extend to ceilings, fences, floors and stairs. When a client requests it, she incorporates mosaic elements, known as tesserae, directly into a painted composition; vintage abalone buttons, mirror pieces, sequins, jewelry, or even champagne caps might find their way into a mural alongside the paint. Rather than building a design solely from tile, she works these client-supplied objects into the larger painted piece, each one chosen for its personal association rather than its decorative uniformity.
Past commissions have incorporated objects such as gold leaf, Swarovski crystals, beaded jewelry, children's toys, and broken family dishware, not as materials she paints "on," but as pieces she folds into her mixed-media murals.
"Someone might hand me a piece of a shattered plate that belonged to their grandmother, or a toy that's meaningless to anyone outside the family," said Illman. "My job is to find a way to give that object a permanent place in their home instead of a drawer."
In some cases, the collaboration extends beyond the client's home entirely. Illman has accompanied clients on visits to a favorite museum or garden as part of the design process, using those shared experiences to inform the final composition.
Composing From What Clients Already Love
Illman noted that clients arrive at the project with widely varying levels of direction. Some send a curated collection of reference images gathered in advance, leaving her to weave every requested element into a single unified design.
"When someone sends me a full board of everything they want included, the challenge isn't coming up with ideas. It's figuring out how all of those pieces belong together," Illman said. "That's often where the most personal work comes from."
A Meaningful Investment, Not Just a Decorative Choice
Illman is a longtime champion of handcrafted, one-of-a-kind commissioned murals, and she views commissioning original art as something more than a decorating decision.
"A commissioned piece is a personal investment, not a decorative choice," Illman said. "It's meant to hold something of your family, permanently, in a way nothing off the shelf ever could."
Preserving Memory Through Permanent Art
Illman said the appeal of heirloom-inspired murals lies in their permanence. Unlike photographs or keepsakes stored away, a mural incorporating family objects becomes a visible, daily part of a home.
"A lot of what people keep in boxes never gets looked at again," Illman said. "When it's built into a wall, it becomes part of the house, and part of the family's story, for good."
Magic Wand Murals is currently accepting inquiries from clients interested in heirloom-inspired commissions for private residences.
Visit Magic Wand Murals' website to learn more.
About Magic Wand Murals
Magic Wand Murals is an independent studio led by artist Nancy Illman, who has designed and painted custom murals for private clients for more than thirty years. Illman grew up on Long Island and earned an A.B. with Honors in English and American Language and Literature from Harvard University, followed by a J.D. from Fordham University. She has lived in New York City, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland. She has also completed several mural commissions in Connecticut and will soon return there to paint a deep blue music room ceiling featuring constellations, crystals and gold leaf, inspired by the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
Illman's heirloom-inspired commissions draw on in-depth client consultations and often incorporate personal objects, from family heirlooms to keepsakes, as mosaic accents within her painted work. The studio has served clients across New York City, Long Island, Michigan, Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
Contact Info:
Name: Nancy Illman
Email: Send Email
Organization: Magic Wand Murals
Address: Takoma Park, Maryland, 20912, United States
Website: http://magicwandmurals.com
Release ID: 89198645
Google
RSS