Muncie artist in 3rd decade painting Christmas windows

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - In his 30 years painting windows for the holidays, Ron Davis has seen plenty of things through the glass, but it was a reflection in his early years of the craft that he says really advanced his art.

Davis was three to four years into his gig, painting the windows of the former Ross Supermarket on Wheeling Avenue. He was first sketching the design with a wax pencil, though the tool sort of defeated the purpose as he had difficulty erasing his mistakes. He then saw the reflection of a mother and daughter walking into the shop, and the girl, about 8 years old, approached him.

"Sir, can I give you some kind of suggestion?" he remembers her asking him.

She told him to use dry-erase markers when drafting. They wipe right off the glass.

Davis, in that moment, hopped off of his stepladder and walked into the store to buy a set of those markers, which were relatively new at the time. They worked like a charm.

"I'm almost jumping up and down," Davis said. "She gave me a tip that was going to make my art excel."

Davis is still using her method in painting the windows of businesses across Indiana. It used to take him up to a week to finish a job. Now, he can knock out a gig in fewer than two days, with a little help from his daughter and daughter-in-law.

Late November to early December is the time of year when business heats up. So far this year, Davis has painted Christmas scenery at almost a dozen locations including Maxwell's Barber Shop, Puerta Vallarta, El Rancho Poblano in Yorktown and Chick-fil-A stores in both Terre Haute and Muncie.

"We are covered in Christmas decorations right now," Rachael Cowin, senior marketing director of Chick-fil-A in Muncie, said, "but (the window painting) brings in an interesting spin. It's just different. Plus it's more visible for the road.

"It's a good conversation starter. We always get great reaction. It's one of those things that has become a tradition, and we definitely enjoy it."

Davis doesn't know precisely, but he estimates he could be one of only 200 or so artists nationwide who paint windows of businesses for the holidays, or at least up to his standard for neatness and detail. He paints everything: holiday messages, Santa Claus, wreaths, cheery snowmen, Christmas lights and more. In doing so, he has to paint backward most of the time because the temporary window paint he uses doesn't withstand much of the outside weather.

Though numbers might be lower across the country, he said the appreciation for his craft has definitely increased. He has a bit of a fan club of customers who see him painting at one location and ask him where he's painting next.

"I go to areas where younger people age 40 and under have never seen this before," Davis said, "but the old-timers, one time in their life they've seen it, but they just flat-out forgot about it, and they're in awe saying, 'I remember this as a kid.'"

Maybe part of Davis's interest in spreading joy during the holidays comes from being a Christmas Eve baby. He turns 60 years old Dec. 24. He said it's becoming a little more difficult each season to finish his work because, well, it's a lot of work. But he'll do it as long as he can.

"To do something for 30 years, it's a passion," Davis said. "I would love to see people just pick up on this and go with it."

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Source: The Star Press

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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com