Coloring the Walls with Lacy Wilson

We all need to run away at times, and that urge may be stronger than ever these days. Maybe you want to run to a quiet room, take a drive with the windows down, gallop your horse to the next field and then the next, or perhaps pick up a paintbrush and fly across the walls or canvas. For Lacy Wilson, painting is and was “the only way to run away without leaving home,” she says.

Lacy had a great childhood, but, even so, she needed an emotional outlet. Things picked up speed artistically when she was ten years old and wanted a horse. Her dad challenged her to earn money and buy the horse herself. Lacy began selling her artwork in galleries to reach that goal.

Later Lacy attended a charter school that allowed her to do what many schools would frown upon—paint on the school walls. Lacy painted a 40-foot long ocean mural at the school as well as many others. Painting murals has been a passion ever since, and you may have noticed the murals popping up recently in Red Bluff, CA, and across Tehama County. Lacy Wilson, Tehama Creatives, and many others have taken part in lovingly splashing color and delight onto our county’s walls and alleyways.

Falling head over heels in love with Tehama County was unexpected when Lacy and her family moved here four years ago. Lacy said she waitressed “for about a minute” when she first arrived, but after seeing the need for more art culture in the area, she leaped to open an art studio.

Her downtown Red Bluff studio, Lacy Wilson Art, has become a haven for those who need a brief escape to express themselves through art during a class or painting party. The benefits found at Lacy’s studio often go beyond just painting skills. One woman told Lacy that she saved her life. Suffering from empty nest syndrome, this woman needed Lacy in her life as both a friend and an art instructor. Similarly, two young women attended Lacy’s classes, met each other, and are now best friends!

Lacy expresses her passion for art on her website: “Art is everywhere! Art is inside each one of us! I believe we can make the world a more beautiful place, one painting party at a time.” This sentiment has proven true in our county recently. As the beautiful murals go up, graffiti goes down, and people are being nurtured either through the act of painting or in the appreciation of it.

These days Lacy is home with her husband and two boys, and you will find paint in every part of the house. Most often, she is painting in the living room with her boys taking part. Social distancing measures have put Lacy Wilson’s classes on hold, but nothing can stop her painting murals. Similarly, no rules limit our ability to take a stroll or a drive around the area to admire the many murals. Be inspired by the colorful displays and consider a healthy way to run away without leaving home.