California woman brings holiday cheer to borough with window paintings
CALIFORNIA – A borough resident is adding a little holiday sparkle to some borough businesses.
Gingerbread men and women strike yoga poses on the storefront window of the FloCal Fitness Studio. Christmas trees and wreaths grace the front of California Consignments. And Santa, a snowman and an elf jam out to music at Mrs. D’s Music Studio.
The holiday decor is the work of Gabriella “Ella” Papini.
Papini, who has been drawing since the age of 3, learned how to paint windows as an employee at the Dairy Queen on Third Street.
“I did it for a bit and had a lot of fun while I worked there but I stopped doing it and took a break,” Papini said. “Recently, it kind of picked up because I was low on cash. I also was looking to expand my art career.”
At first she just painted the windows at Dairy Queen and the law office of Attorney Lisa Buday, then took a few years off from the window painting.
But she’s back at it this year and got the ball rolling at Mrs. D’s Music Studio.
“I painted her window while the polls were open so everybody was kind of watching me do it while they were going in and out of the borough building,” Papini said. “My business just kind of started to grow. I had more people asking me to paint.”
Next up was California Consignments, owned by her mother, Marsha.
“I’m so very proud of her,” said Marsha Papini. “She’s been a great artist from the time she was a little girl. She solicited a couple businesses and they were so happy. It just spread. I think it’s a wonderful thing that she’s doing because it’s making the town look nicer in collaboration with the store owners because they’re paying for this service. It makes everything look more Christmasey. She did a beautiful job on my windows. It looks fabulous.”
She also has her work on display at the FloCal Fitness Studio and others are scheduled in the coming days.
Papini said the paintings have proven to be a great outlet for her and she is honored to be doing them.
“My art has always kept me going,” she said. “I knew no matter how dreary the day was, at the end of the day, I still have this gift. I don’t want to waste it. I want other people to enjoy it because it makes me so happy.”
Papini likes to involve the business owner in determining what will be included in the painting. She likes to incorporate the type of business it is, such as the women doing yoga on the painting at FloCal. She enjoys painting people and cartoon characters.
“Some people have preferences in what they want to have on their windows,” she said. “Generally, it has something to do with their business and they kind of give me creative liberties.”
Tori Shuckhart, owner of FloCal Fitness Studio, said she loves the creativity Papini put into the painting on the fitness studio window.
“It displays gingerbread cookies in yoga poses,” Shuckhart said. “Ella stated a few didn’t stretch out well enough so they crumbled during the workout. The paintings have really brought the town together and showed us the Christmas spirit.”
Papini said it takes about six or seven hours to complete a piece of artwork.
“It’s kind of like a performance because so many people stop to watch me,” she said. “It’s really nice.”
A recent comment from a woman watching her paint touched Papini.
“She said, ‘You’re making a difference in the community. The people who walk around here really enjoy seeing this holiday stuff. It really makes a difference in their day,'” Papini recalled. “That was really rewarding. … Something so small as an art piece can change my perspective on a day. I want to give that to everybody else. It’s been there for me my whole life. It’s a lot of fun.”
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