Hi-Line Living: Painting art on Havre windows

A local stay-at-home mom transitioned a year ago into making it her business to beautify Havre one window at a time.

"I could think of a lot worse ways to spend my time," window-painter Tracy Carroll said. "It's fun to do something creative."

Carroll said she has operated her business since fall of last year, adding that Infinity Bake Shoppe and Valley Furniture were her first two businesses. Since then, she has expanded to doing work for five to six different businesses around the area.

"I think it really makes downtown look nice, I guess," she said. "It's very festive and I think it can really help businesses bring attention to their store front."

The Infinity Bake Shoppe owner Dottie Wilson said Carroll's work has positively impacted her business and people often take notice of the artwork.

"I absolutely love it," Wilson said. "We get compliments on our windows all the time."

She said the first piece she had done by Carroll was for Halloween last year, but her favorite has been what she did for Christmas - Christmas is also Wilson's favorite holiday, she said.

"I just love artwork anywhere that you can find it, so just that alone is really cool," she said.

She added that she would love it if Carroll continues and appreciates she is proficient, reliable and easy to work with.

Ben Franklin owner Sherry Obrecht said it was because of what Carroll did at The Infinity Bake Shoppe last fall she became interested. She hired Carroll a few months later, around Christmas.

"She does it all free hand," Obrecht said. "Tracy is really talented."

She added that Carroll is very thorough with her work and the painting will stay in good condition for at least a few months. Obrecht said her business gets a lot of compliments about the art work, especially when it was the big sunflowers. 

It added to her business, she said, making it more cheerful and making the business itself look better. She added that they do not own their building and it is a good way to make aesthetic improvements.  

"I think if more businesses got their windows painted it makes us look good," she added. "More people should paint their windows and hire her because she does a good job."

Carroll originally got into the idea after moving to Havre with her husband, Shea, and her five children from Washington state, she said. In Washington, she remembers it was very popular and a large number of businesses in her area would do it - especially around the holidays.

"I liked how it looked," she said.

When she moved to Havre, she said she noticed not many businesses did any kind of window art. To her knowledge, a local woman was doing something similar, painting on the inside of the window but had stopped doing it around the time carroll moved to town.

As a mother of five, most of her time has been spent being a stay-at-home mom, she said, volunteering a lot during the school year at her children's different schools. Being a stay-at-home mom is a full-time job, but she still wanted to find something she could do to fill up her free time. She added that she spoke with her husband about getting a part-time job, but because of her volunteer work and her family she didn't know how it would work out because of her time commitments. Her husband suggested to her to start painting windows and after she started knocking on different businesses doors to see if she could drum up some business.

Carroll said while she was in Washington she spent two years in a community college in Yakima, but has never taken an art class or had any artistic training. She added that besides painting around the house, she has never painted anything to that creative degree before and she had to teach herself and do her own research along the way to improve.

The first few were rough, she said.

The internet has an abundance of information available, she said, adding that she looked at a number of similar businesses in larger populated areas to get ideas and see what they were doing and seeing how it could work for Havre.

She said she likes the work because she likes to be outside - depending on the weather - and she can have a flexible schedule so she can still be there for her family and still be able to volunteer.

Her children are also artistic, she said, they enjoy art and would probably enjoy coming with her when she is working, but because they are so young she is nervous about letting them join her. Later, when they are older, she said, she would definitely want to bring them with her to work.

One of the biggest challenges for her business, she said, is going door-to-door trying to get people interested in her work. She added that her service is not expensive and she is willing to work with business owners to see what works best for them.

Carroll said she works all year, weather permitting, and she feels the best when the customer is happy with the work she's done. She added that she gets nervous the more specific the business owners get what they want done but when it's done right it makes her feel good about what she was able to accomplish.

"It draws attention to their store front," she said. "It's a positive thing for any business."

She added that her business is something she would like to continue in the future, as long as it doesn't interfere with her family.

The process of painting windows

Carroll said she buys quarts of interior paint and usually mixes her own colors. Before she starts painting, she speaks with the business owner about what they want the artwork to be and creates a sketch beforehand so she knows it will fit in the layout of the window. She then starts creating a simple outline on the window with a crayon. After the outline is complete she uses a small three-inch roller to apply the paint. She added that sometimes she puts a tarp down if she is worried about getting paint on exposed brick or trim work of the building. 

When the art needs to be removed, she usually wipes it down with a sponge using a mixture of windshield washer fluid and warm water.

After the paint has had a chance to soak, she uses a razor to easily scrape away the paint.

She said she usually pulls pictures from the internet as references for her artwork, adding that it is easier for her to paint from a picture then something physically in front of her.

Carroll said she would like to learn more about art and know some artists around town, time she is not actively seeking any art groups or classes right now, her wanting to focus on her family. She said she would like to do more business in the future and want to get more in writing promotional messages because she wants to improve her lettering.

"But I think you learn a little bit every time you do it and try to get better at it," she said.