Merry murals: Ooltewah artist adorns company windows with Christmas scenes

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Former high school art teacher Jackie Estes paints one of her holiday window scapes on the Thrifty MedPlus Pharmacy window Tuesday at the four corners at Apison Pike and Oolteway-Ringgold Road.
Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Former high school art teacher Jackie Estes paints one of her holiday window scapes on the Thrifty MedPlus Pharmacy window Tuesday at the four corners at Apison Pike and Oolteway-Ringgold Road.

Whatever motif you associate with the Christmas season, Jacqueline Estes has probably painted it. On a grand scale.

For the past several years, the Ooltewah-based artist has been responsible for the seasonal scenery and merry messages that appear on the plate-glass windows at several local businesses.

"I really try to cover everything," she says. "When you think about Christmas, you think of Santa and candy canes and Christmas bells and winter scenes."

Her busy season actually starts weeks earlier when stores turn their attention to the fourth quarter and the blitz of holidays that arrive in those three months.

Sometimes it's a generic scene: Scarecrows and windblown leaves signaled the advent of fall on the door at the Elder's Ace Hardware in Red Bank.

Sometimes it's event specific: Windows and doors at Toyota of Cleveland were covered in Frankensteins, spider webs and Freddy Kreugers for the dealership's annual Trunk or Treat promotion at Halloween.

Estes says some clients give her ideas and direction. Others leave the creative decisions to her.

"Occasionally, I do have someone guide me - 'This has been our holiday theme. Can you paint that in a scene?' Most of the time, when people have seen my work, they trust what I'm going to put on their windows," she says.

She also takes into account the targeted demographic. Seniors coming in to a pharmacy for medicine are more likely to see a nostalgic winter scene. A children's play area will get Santa Claus, penguins and elves.

For more information

Learn more about Jacqueline Estes at www.artistjacquelineestes.com.

Julie Bohannon, owner/operator, with husband Greg, of the Thrifty MedPlus Pharmacy in Ooltewah, says she commissioned Estes to do the store's murals while Estes was her children's art teacher at Grace Baptist Academy. An artist who had previously painted the scenes had moved away, and Bohannon and her customers missed the wintry windows. Bohannon says she was captivated by the enchanting village scenes Estes had painted on the door of each classroom at the school and was thrilled when Estes was willing to take on the extracurricular work.

"She's probably painted my windows 10-plus years now, and the customers just really love it," Bohannon says. "I think it brings back a nostalgic feeling people have for it. People used to do [window murals] a lot, but you don't see it as much anymore."

Estes says she lets her customers decide how Christmasy they want to go with their windows.

"Some of them choose the candy canes and the Christmas trees if they know their window cleaners will be removing [the artwork] right after Christmas," she explains. "Some of them tell me not to do the traditional red and green because they want to leave it through January or even into February. They tend to lean toward snowy-type scenes."

Bohannon usually has Estes paint a generic winter scene so that the murals can stay up past Christmas, but says she's leaning more toward a full-blown Christmas scene next year after several years of neutral images.

Estes says she's happy to go either route. "Being that my art style is landscapes, of course the snowy scenes are fun," she says. "But the candy canes are fun too because it's the holidays. At that time of year, it's fun to see those things."

Estes says she has been fascinated by art since elementary school. She earned an associate's degree in early childhood education from Chattanooga State Community College and a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Covenant College. She was an art supervisor for Olan Mills for 18 years before hiring on at Grace Baptist Academy. Last year, she retired from the classroom so she could focus full time on her own pursuits.

"I could have retired sooner, but my passion is to share my talent and pass it on to others," she says.

Her interests in art are expansive. She produces custom artwork, does interior-design color consulting and leads classes and paint parties. Her resume ranges from whimsical face painting for children at festivals to intricate botanical watercolors to murals on cars. For a few weeks every December, she's scaling ladders to blot the blue into skies on high-rising plate glass.

"I don't like to put myself in one little box," she says. "I'll paint just about anything."

She's been especially busy this season, with more than a dozen businesses seeking her services for window murals.

"The car dealerships, their big thing was they wanted it done by Black Friday," she says. "Some of them were calling me [only] two or three days ahead of time. I did a couple of double duties, working morning and night, 'til the lights went out, for the Christmas rush."

The window murals range from $25 to $500, depending on the scope of the project and the number of paints in the palette. She uses acrylic paint on the glass. It's strong enough to withstand the elements but comes off easily with soapy water and a scraper.

She does all the scenery freehand but usually brings along a bar of soap to make sure she gets any lettering properly sized and spaced.

I do eyeball it, and being that I've done it for several years, you kind of have an idea how many letters will fit per window pane. I use the soap, and if doesn't fit correctly, I can easily wipe it off and start again. It's kind of like how before an artist does a sketch, they'll sketch it out on paper first."

Bohannon says she's always happy to see what surprise Estes has in store.

"Every year, she does something different, and every year it's a delight," Bohannon says. "Customers really enjoy it. It makes our little drugstore feel charming and extra special for the holidays."

Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.

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