Around these parts, folks know Christmas can't be far away when Poo Pulliam-Wright begins her rounds with paint and brush and turns otherwise commonplace windows into holiday works of art.
For the past 10 years, Pulliam-Wright has acted as something close to one of Santa's helpers, decorating windows in colorful winter fantasylands peopled by animals and sprinkled with snowflakes, trees and mountain scenery.
Until the recession hit, Pulliam-Wright had 20 regular Yuletide clients with storefront windows to be decorated with her art.
In Ketchum, the City Hall, the post office, the new downtown Ketchum-Sun Valley Chamber & Visitors Bureau office and F-Stop Camera store have been given eye-popping treatment.
The multi-window chamber office painting—featuring the group's marketing motto "The Fun Never Sets"—required nine hours work.
At F-Stop, where a giant camera is the centerpiece, more than four hours went into the painting by Poo and her assistant, husband Dan. In years past, F-Stop had a unique three-phase painting—a wreath, Bald Mountain and champagne glasses—each being removed in sequence as the Christmas season progressed.
(Incidentally, she acquired the name Poo in eighth grade, when she shared the name Kathryn and Katherine with five classmates. The teacher designated her Kathy Poo, and Poo has stuck.)
This artistic bent began early—when she was 2 years old. In her childhood memorabilia, she says, she has drawings done before kindergarten. She distinctly remembers painting a picture of a miner panning for gold when she was in second grade, plus small murals for school when she was in the fourth and fifth grades.
Between Christmases, Pulliam-Wright does pet portraits in color pencil and graphite, as well as portraits of wildlife in scratchboards. Lately, she says, she's been "dabbling" in acrylics and water colors. She also is well known in bird-watching circles.
Yes, she's paid for her Christmas window painting. But several businesses hit hard by the recession have been given a holiday gift-- artwork for free.
Poo Pulliam-Wright shows off some of her work at Ketchum City Hall. Photo by
