Artist Sue Girardi:
Windows, Walls and More

by Judy Silberstein

( November 12, 2002 ) You’ll find Sue Girardi’s window paintings in Larchmont at the bank, the coffee shop, the jewelry store, and on every major shopping street in the business district. In nearby communities you’ll find her murals at the doctor, the dentist and the library. Once you know what to look for, you will spot her distinctive, whimsical illustrations throughout Westchester in store windows, restaurants, and professional offices. Her work even appeared at the World Trade Center. Nevertheless, it’s in Larchmont where you’ll find the largest collection of Girardi work.

Growing up in nearby New Rochelle, Ms. Girardi always liked art, but was required to take typing, “Which I was terrible at,” she remembered. It was only in her senior year and then at Iona College where she had the freedom to try art courses. After two years of college she knew art was for her, and she transferred to the Parsons School of Design to learn illustration.

“In a sense, illustration is what I do,” explained the artist as she checked on her art work at the Beadazzled store on Palmer Avenue. “Though I certainly didn’t learn window painting at art school.” She fell into that line of work in l988, just before moving to Larchmont, when a friend who owned Monahan’s (now Palmer Crossing) in Larchmont asked if she would paint the mirrors and windows for Halloween. “If you had asked me then, I never would have expected to still be painting windows,” she exclaimed.

Some of her more elaborate designs are found not in windows, but on walls. If you go to Dr. Carla Tournatore’s pediatric dentistry office in Eastchester, you’ll find Girardi artwork on almost every inch of space, including ceilings, exam rooms, bathrooms and even the chairs in the waiting room. For the Huguenot Children’s Library in New Rochelle, Girardi produced floor to ceiling murals for the stairway that appear to be created from large, brightly hued mosaic tiles. The walls provide giant canvases for her creations, which are as colorful, but much more sophisticated than her typical commercial productions.

On a smaller scale, Girardi has been supplying (gratis) illustrations for Larchmont Gazette, including the character sketches for Val Estabrook’s Dear Sis columns. She also helped out with designs for the Larchmont Volunteer Fire Department’s new t-shirts being sold to underwrite costs for refurbishing their 1922 pumper, Engine One. She and husband Jim Sweeney ( a past Chief of the Fire Department and active Volunteer) may be found at most Department functions, usually acompanied by daughter Gillian, now four.

Many of Sue Girardi's masterpieces, whether on windows, websites or t-shirts, lead short, seasonal lives. Her pumpkins appear in October and disappear by November. However, some of her murals and window illustrations have been in place now for over a decade. Her designs at the First Union Bank have been up since 1991, though the bank has changed hands a number of times since then. More importantly, though the scenes may change, the Girardi presence has become a permanent, colorful, and unique aspect of shopping in the Village of Larchmont.

Send this page to a friend

Discuss this topic in our forums, or send a letter to the editors.