Carol Frank: Decorator Extraordinaire

In a family of creative people, new Anderson Artists Guild member Carol Frank was the decorator. “My three aunts were all artists; my husband’s uncle did fabulous original design needlepointing; my dad was in architecture; my brother has been a set designer for movies, TV, and theater for over 40 years; both my sons do metal sculpting and construction design; and I focus on the house and yard,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed decorating since I was a little girl. My sons learned early—don’t walk through the house at night with the lights off because Mom probably rearranged the furniture.”

Holidays and special events particularly inspire her. “Dressing up in costumes for events and decorating for almost anything just makes life more fun and exciting,” she said. When she lived in San Marcos, Texas, she created outdoor vintage lounge areas for a Mermaid Society ball. For Halloween, she has collected over 50 plastic pumpkins for various displays. She transforms her yard for Christmas and has been very involved in Mardi Gras and Carnaval events.

She has completed major renovations on two homes and is in the process of overhauling the house she bought in Anderson. “We’ve put in new flooring and I’m slowly painting everything white, but no walls need to come down—hooray!” she said. “But my tombstone will probably say ‘Still Remodeling.’”

Her work history shows the same kind of passion for new adventures. She has a degree in sociology and anthropology from Texas A&M University and has worked for Planned Parenthood, the Texas Alcohol & Beverage Commission, a police department, and as a paralegal for several large attorney firms. Then she took some courses in radio, television and film, leading to crew work on multiple productions and ultimately managing a multi-media video production facility for almost 30 years. “I loved it all until it just became too much the same thing, and technology was advancing so fast it was lots of work,” she said.

She’s a passionate community activist, with involvement in such groups as the garden club, heritage association, and art league in Texas. In San Marcos, where she lived in a 104-year old Grand Tudor in the historic district near the homes of her grandparents and great-grandparents, she fought to preserve the neighborhood. “Our beautiful historic district was constantly battling the encroachment of the local university, developers, and Airbnbs, so there was lots to do,” she said.

Relocating to Anderson to be near family and to enjoy the great weather was a choice made after lots of consideration. “We just needed one last new adventure,” she said. “We flew to the region six times in 2020 looking for the right place. It was a hard move, but I think we made a great decision.”