- December 4, 2025
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As students at Lakewood Ranch High walk through the halls, they are not only greeted by their peers, but by the dominating presence of Mustangs.
The school mascot has been brought to life everywhere they turn.
Artist Isabelle Harrell has made it her mission to beautify the spaces around her by painting murals, with the Mustang playing a key role in the four she has done on campus.
“When I was little, I loved to paint," said Harrell, who is a senior. "All day, every day, I was making something. It got to a point that my mom (Afshaun Harrell) had collected so many paintings that she encouraged me to advance to a bigger scale.”
Afshaun Harrell said her daughter began painting as soon as she could pick up a pencil. By the time she was 3, she was drawing designs on her mom's bed frame using a green Sharpie.
By the time she was 8, she was looking for something bigger.
“I wanted to paint my room, but I wasn't allowed," Harrell said.
Her mom laughs about her decision to stop her daughter from painting her bedroom, because it might have been a good idea.
"She's always loved to draw ... It's inspiring," Afshaun Harrell said. "She wanted to do it so much, and now she is. She's going to make a career out of it. I wish I could have been so focused on something when I was her age.”
While she would draw on just about everything at home, Isabelle Harrell treated her love of art as a private hobby. It took years before she realized her talent was something to be shared with others.
"I got my confidence very late," she said. "I was discouraged by my peers. I was a little ashamed that I liked to draw, but my teachers always were there to encourage me.
"I started getting some confidence in middle school. During a project, I spilled paint everywhere. I was so close to being done, and I had worked on the painting for so long. But I just stopped and let it dry, instead of freaking out about it."
Instead of trashing her project, she completed the piece by painting over the spill.
"My art teacher (Wade Smith) came up to me after that and told me it was a mature and smart decision on my part."
Smith told her that he knew she was a good artist. From that point, she began to gain more confidence.
At Lakewood Ranch High, she has gone way beyond wanting to paint on the walls of a bedroom.
"The opportunity arose to let me paint a mural on our school’s campus, so I jumped at it," she said. "It was a pretty big dream of mine to paint something huge.”
It was in November when the school began to consider adding a mural to the gymnasium. Teacher's aide Michael Purpus, who was coaching basketball at the time, had seen one of Harrell's paintings of a horse and pumpkins she had done as an art project. Purpus went to the art teacher, Elizabeth Henry, and told her that he loved it.
So Harrell was selected for the gymnasium project and she began the process of painting a mural that stands over 10 feet tall. At 5-foot-3, her artwork towered above her.
“I had to use this insanely high ladder," Harrell said. "Even then, it was hard to reach some spots. I digitally created a design to project onto the wall, which made plotting it a bit easier, since it was my first mural ever."
The process for making the sketch and digital artwork took about a month, but painting the mural itself only took two days.
“Since it was December by the time I actually started painting it, I did it during exam week," she said. "I was told I could paint the mural instead of sitting in my empty classes since I didn’t have any tests to take, so I was really happy about that."
Although she was nervous since it was her first mural, she pushed forward.
"I never painted something that big before," she said.
Another factor that made her nervous was being in the gym alone with no one there to critique her. However, her fellow students already had given her positive feedback from seeing the projection on the wall.
After the first mural was finished, other teachers and administrators came to her about other projects.
"Everyone liked it, so I'm happy it worked out, and I trusted my instinct that I could finish the job,” she said.
While the mural allowed students and faculty members to see her talent, she already was known around campus for her artistic ability through her involvement with the yearbook committee and various art classes. During the 2023-2024 school year, Harrell designed the cover for Lakewood Ranch High’s yearbook.
Her second mural at the high school was alongside the football field. Athletics Director Kent Ringquist asked Harrell to paint a mural on the concession stand wall.
“We (the LWRHS staff) wanted something that would encapsulate the spirit of the Mustang," Ringquist said. "She did exactly that.”
That mural has become a popular photo spot during Friday night football games.
“It's nice to have someone on campus who can do these (murals) for students to see for years to come,” Ringquist said.
Other murals can be seen in the weightlifting room and in the Mustangs Ahead podcast room. The latter is an ongoing project.
“I’ve loved having Isabelle around while she’s painting," said Kate Ronston, a junior who serves as the Mustangs Ahead Outreach editor. "Her presence lights everything up ... not to mention the mural itself, which is shaping up to be a beautiful addition to the office.”
Harrell would like to create more murals at the school and intends to branch out and do artwork at other locations in Lakewood Ranch.
“It makes me so happy that all the students can enjoy my work," Harrell said. "I can't wait to see what other opportunities I get down the line, and I can’t believe I was given the chance to do projects like these on such a large scale.”
She still believes that some people think it's strange for a girl to like drawing so much, but she hopes to convince those people that "art is awesome."
"I want my work to last, and I want people to connect over it,” she said.
She is researching in-state colleges where she can take classes in graphic design and marketing.
"I want to continue with my craft and try harder to perfect it," she said. "I’m taking dual-enrollment classes with the State College of Florida, and I want to do as much as I can to put myself out there.
“Long term, I don’t know what I want to do with my degrees and future. I know I want to continue making art. I’m just hoping I can work from home, since that’s where I’m most in my element. I’m just happy that, no matter what, I can trace my roots back to my community.”
