At first glance, you might wonder what’s with that doggie in the window. Jen Dunk paints them all over town: dogs, hummingbirds, squirrels, gingerbread houses. Part of her artistic practice includes window painting that helps Oak Park businesses attract attention.
“I did visual merchandising as a career before I had kids,” Dunk said. “This old- fashioned, lower tech is getting more popular. It’s the small-town feel. It doesn’t feel slick.”
Her first customer was Candycopia on Lake Street and it has built from there.
For recent work on windows at Madison Street’s Sear’s Pharmacy, Dunk conjured up a passel of pets who can now get their med prescriptions filled there. Ken Bertini, former owner of Segreti Pharmacy on Roosevelt Road, now works out of Sears.
“When we came here, we started to decide how to market,” Bertini said. “Jen’s pet, her dog, is one of our patients and then she just said one day, ‘I paint windows.’ So, she sent me a picture and we talked about it and I said that’s going to be a great idea.”
The window’s stack of pets is a play on Bertini’s veterinary meds-focused business card.
The process started with a photo of Sear’s windows that Dunk sketched over with her idea. Once that was approved, she outlined the piece in white acrylic paint. Next came a full white coat and then the color pass. The paint is water-soluble, so she sealed it once she was done, but it will eventually succumb to the weather. When it’s time for a new scene, the paint will come off the window with the help of a razor blade.
“Businesses – the employees can’t wait to see the next iteration,” she said. “I’ll change up the outfits on these dogs and stuff like that. So, it’s just kind of fun.”
Bertini said that Dunk’s images fit the vibe of Sear’s Pharmacy, which has long used its windows to cheekily engage with the passing traffic. Window painting is new for them, but on brand.
“For sure it is kind of playful, solicits smiles,” he said.
For Dunk, the process is almost as enriching as the finished work.
“I have a lot of fun conversations while I’m painting,” said Dunk.