Big art is taking over the Grand Strand. Meet the Myrtle Beach area muralists behind them.

In Conway, a steam locomotive takes visitors back in time. In Murrells Inlet, mermaids ride on unicorn dolphins through an underwater seascape. In Myrtle Beach a mustached pig sits on a stump fishing.

All around the Grand Strand, big art on public buildings, restaurant walls, hotel lobbies, even on chalkboards, invite viewers to slow down, engage their imagination and take a closer look.

From the historical to the whimsical, these artists’ work seem to be on display everywhere. Since muralists rarely have gallery openings, their names remain relatively unknown. Here are some local artist and what drives them.

Get immersed in a whimsical world

April Bensch stands atop a ladder painting on stingrays on the porch ceiling at Crab Daddy’s Calabash Seafood Display in Murrells Inlet. Her purple blouse - even her long hair - is splattered with dabs of color, one of the hazards of painting over her head.

“The job of a mural, she explains, “is to make you feel like you’re in the place. That’s it’s surrounding you and you can kind of trick your brain a little bit and just step into a different world.”

Bensch has done that job at shops and restaurants up and down the Grand Strand from North Myrtle to Pawley’s Island. Her clients include Calabash Seafood, Angus Steakhouse, Dinoland Cafe, Cackalacky Fish Company, Gretel’s Candy House, even Pawley’s Island’s Old City Hall.

At Crab Daddy’s she has created an underwater wonderland inside and out, on ceilings even the floors. Colorful mermaids, dolphins, sea turtles, crabs and tropical fish swim through sunken ruins and blend into the restaurant’s decor which features sharks and whales hanging from the ceiling and seaweed draping over the buffet.

Bensch enjoys incorporating a sense of humor in her work. Her mermaids play hide and seek at Crab Daddy’s. Goldilocks steals candy from the three angry bears at Gretel’s Candy House.

The artist got her start when she moved here in 1998 by refinishing furniture for local designers, often painting the pieces in a “fun and funky way.” She still refinishes furniture and also holds paint parties. “I like to teach,” she says, “and I like to help people that don’t think they are artist create things they didn’t know they could do. It’s very rewarding and a lot of fun for other people.”

But her specialty is big intricate murals because “Big is fun!” she says and she just wants her viewers to have fun. “I just love seeing people stopping and taking pictures with my work.”

Take a step back in time

Folks driving up Main Street in Loris may be tempted to take a brief detour up a dirt lane winding between a tractor and an old tobacco barn. It’s an allusion Tommy Simpson always seeks in his work. “The feeling that you can walk right up from the grass right up onto the road and keep going. If you can achieve that illusion, just for a moment, then you did your job,” the muralist says.

Simpson was always destined to do big things. He began his career in high school, often cutting classes a couple of days a week to paint billboards. He eventually opened his own custom sign business and for years was the only area artist in the region allowed to paint those giant Coca-Cola bottles on area billboards. But as technology changed and signs more often computer generated, he saw the writing on the wall. Simpson turned his focus to murals.

His giant nostalgic scenes now grace the sides of buildings around the region. In Conway, Simpson was responsible for restoring the oldest mural in a town of many, the F.G. Borroughs Steamboat. He went on to paint the Papa’s General Store, the boy fishing on the side of The Trestle Bakery, and perhaps his most popular work, The historic Shoo-fly steam engine #62 that ran through the town in the 19th century. Visitors to the Myrtle Beach convention center have passed under his revitalization of renowned artist Robert Wyland’s “Whaling Wall”, and Surfside Beach regulars would recognize his sunbathing “Hat Lady” on the side of the Borgata Bar & Restaurant.

For his next act, Simmons just received a commission to paint three large walls for the City of Dillon.

“The coolest thing about doing this and doing it for a living is no one ever told me I couldn’t,” he says. “The best thing my parents ever did was they didn’t discourage me. The object here is being happy. If you do what you love and makes you happy, money will just come.”

Young artists are making a scene

Candice Regan and Ramsey Diven are just starting their art careers but the college friends are already making a scene in the Myrtle Beach area.

When Candice’s brother, a manager at the new Bubba’s Fish Camp and Smokehouse on 21st Avenue, recommended her to create a chalk mural above the bar, Candice knew just who to ask to help her complete the task.

Regan and Diven both graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2020. While Regan’s interests included sculpture, metal work, fabric art and digital, Diven specialized in hand lettering and already had some experience painting murals.

The pair created the vivid chalk scene with Bubba’s dog mascot diving into a seascape wearing snorkeling gear on one side, and a pig fishing near a campsite on the other. The pig has a mustache that was a last-minute tribute to one of the restaurant’s cooks.

On scaffolding above the bar, they completed the eye-catching work, in just two days prior to the grand opening. The women, both lefties, had to be careful to avoid smudging the delicate chalk.

“I’ve never really done a big project like that so I really enjoyed like the big aspect of it,” Regan said. “We just felt so good and proud of ourself that we did that in two days. It just felt so good to take a step back and look at everything.”

Diven, who has painted commissions for Vintage Violent, a home decor shop in North Myrtle Beach, and has illustrated several children’s books for local writers. “I just love creating for people and making something that will be meaningful and memorable for them,” she said.

Diven, a full-time artists says she’s open to any commissions a she does a little bit of everything including from hand lettering to portraits of both people and pets to photography.

Regan works at Carolina Cool but enjoys doing fabric work, cross stitch and digital art.

The pair both said they hope to find more “big work” to do together in the future.

Editor’s Note: The artist Ramsey Diven was misspelled.