By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Downtown Hays is dressed up for the Christmas season, and some businesses have taken it a step further by having their storefront windows painted with holiday themes by a local artist.
Alexis Casey, 49, is a self-taught window painter through "lots and lots of trial and error." She's lived in several other states and has been a Hays resident for about eight years.
Thursday afternoon she was working on a scene at Clinkscales Elder Law Office, 1407 Main.
Casey started her window art career about 10 years ago when she worked at a pharmacy in Ness City.
"They let me paint on the windows and slowly, gradually I started doing it more and more, and really enjoyed it," she said. "I learned new techniques and began putting them to use."
Word-of-mouth from delighted clients and sightseers has been her main form of advertising her painting service.
"I just started getting more and more jobs, and it's become a seasonal thing now for about the past five years," she said.
She also paints murals on buildings and indoors, specializing in baby nurseries.
The Hays-themed mural on the south side of The Fort Tavern and Patio Bar, 109 W. Seventh, has been her biggest project to date.
The Christmas holiday-themed windows in downtown Hays originated thanks to bierocks.
Her day job is baking the bierocks at Cerv's convenience store, 1601 Main.
"My boss there allowed me to paint the windows there, and word-of-mouth just spread down Main Street," she said.
Casey was free-handing the snow-covered pine trees, nighttime stars and gingerbread men on the Clinkscales windows.
If a design is really detailed, she'll sometimes sketch it out first on her iPad using Procreate software.
"I'm always thinking about it in my head weeks before I do it, of course," she said.
"For the most part, I don't really know what I'm going to do until I get up to the windows to see what kind of windows they have, the environment and the weather. A lot of it is just kind of on the fly, but there is some planning involved."
Some windows have a film or tint that makes it a little more difficult to paint. She declared the Clinkscales windows "perfect."
Recent inclement weather forced her to cancel some jobs.
"Sometimes you can't get everybody," she said.
Casey offers suggestions for designs during other times of the year that can be done when she's not working in the holiday time crunch.
"Fall windows are also very popular with pumpkins and leaves that you can leave up for months at a time as opposed to a holiday that needs to be taken down within weeks," she said.
Clients sometimes specify what they want their window designs to look like. Other times, they leave it up to Casey.
No matter the design, everything starts with at least two to three basecoats of white interior latex or acrylic paint. Scenes such as the Clinkscales' snow-covered trees will remain white. Other scenes require the white basecoat so that added colors "will really pop."
She uses bottled craft paints for the colors and half-gallon cans of white house paint which are purchased in Hays.
When the holiday season is over, the window paint can be scraped off after it's slightly moistened with water.
"I just hope these painted windows bring a smile to everyone's face," she said.
The tools of Casey's trade are simple - household and artist paintbrushes, and her hands.
"I can make a better circle using my thumb instead of a brush," she said.
Casey doesn't have a set price for her work. She charges based on how much time she estimates it will take her for a specific project and how much paint she'll use.
"Eventually, I hope to do this full-time," she said.
She also paints custom art.
If you're interested in hiring Casey, you can contact her at 785-259-3450 or [email protected].