Painting the Town

Editor’s Note: This feature story is part of an ongoing series on the lives of people who live or work in the community.

By Dana Brantley

editor@octimesnews.com

Whitney Payton, of Cromwell, says she isn’t an artist. Yet, her artwork can be seen on windows around town.

Payton uses acrylic paint to decorate windows of businesses throughout the area, but it all started on a whim.

In 2021, Payton worked at Cecilian Bank in Hartford. Nearly the entire front portion of the bank is made up of windows. Bored one afternoon before Christmas, Payton asked if she could paint the windows. It was then that she discovered a new talent.

“The first time (I painted) it wasn’t really great, but then I started watching videos of people who do it professionally and I was just intrigued by it,” she said.

After Christmas, the bank allowed her to take down her creation and asked her to paint something for Valentine’s Day. She said that turned out better than the first but by St. Patrick’s Day, she had gotten the knack for it.

Customers began noticing and requesting her to paint their windows. Last summer she decided she should stay home with her children, and began using the window painting gigs as a way to continue bringing in a little money.

“I called around and started asking people if they wanted their windows painted. I didn’t get a lot in the summer but then at Christmas it sort of took off and I did over 20.”

She said window art is great for people and businesses that don’t

have the means or time to put up a lot of decorations and can be a really simple way to still be festive, and it can easily be changed for the next holiday or season. In total, she has done about 30 windows since she began.

While businesses are her main customers, she can also paint residential windows. She does her own for holidays and her children’s birthdays. She also paints the windows at Southern Elementary where her children are students.

“It makes it fun for the kids,” she said.

Her work can be seen not only in Ohio County but Daviess County as well.

The windows are painted with paint she buys gallons of in bulk. The process takes her anywhere from two hours to three days depending on the design.

She first sketches on paper whatever design her customer requests and gets approval. She starts by painting the shape of her design with white paint to provide a base and make her a “canvas.” Once that dries, she paints the design on top in color and then outlines the entire thing in black and then outlines the black in white.

Payton often gets ideas for her designs by looking at clip art on the internet.

“I don’t promise people that I can draw just anything,” she said. “If someone gives me an idea I will sketch it out a few times and try first.”

She said well-known characters are the hardest for her to do.

“There is a lot of pressure to make sure they look like the character. The first time I did the Grinch it was not great.”

What happens if she messes up? She just scrapes it off and starts again.

Once a design is on a window, it stays until someone removes it.

“Once it is up, it is up,” She said. “If it rains and someone runs their hand across it, it will smear but otherwise it will stay.”

The paint can be removed by spraying it with warm water and scraping it with a razor blade. She said it peels off like wallpaper. Three months is the longest she has ever left one up. Payton is the one who often goes to the site and removes the paint, sometimes to put up a different design. She said it isn’t difficult destroying her own work even though that is her most asked question.

“It really doesn’t bother me. I just take a picture of it. I know I did it,” she said. “Basically it is like erasing to put a new canvas up.”

Payton also operates a photography business on the side. That is something that she has had an interest in since high school and it has been her main source of income for over 10 years.

When her children all started school she took the job at the bank thinking that she needed a 9-5 job, but she soon realized that wasn’t for her. Painting windows is something new and fun that she discovered she could do that also helps pay the bills.

“I am not an artist. Honestly, until I worked at Cecilian and got bored that day and started painting the windows, I had never painted. I had never drawn before. I took one art class in high school but that was 11 or 12 years ago,” she said. “It is just fun. I do feel like I get a little bit better each time and I haven’t had any complaints.”