Sarah Thomas, a local Fairfield artist and small business owner, struggled with the same sudden emptiness following the quarantine. Life before was full of business and grandkids until the pandemic hit. However, she has found a unique way to bring brightness and art back into her community.

Sarah Thomas's shop, the Mckesson House, sells and showcases some beautifully decorated inside doors, which gave her an idea. "You clean a little bit and you bake a lot, and all the sudden, one day, I thought, 'I'm going to decorate my front door.'" The finished product was a delicate ocher design on her red front door; elegant, refreshing, and one-of-a-kind. As a result of her exquisite work, her daughter asked her to decorate hers. A domino effect of patrons and supporters came from the community asking for their front doors to be transformed into pieces of art.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Some doors proudly on display are recently reopened Mansion House (formally know as the Fairfield Inn), Battersby Law Office, and the Village Book & Table. The Fairfield Village Hall has also received a makeover from this 'door-to-door' artist, and many other locals have asked for a door by Sarah Catherine Thomas.

"The whole idea around all this is to give us a lift in these crazy times," she said, "Make things pretty, make people happy because that's what it's all about...I was born and raised here, this little town and I love it and the people in it and I have plenty of time on my hands to do something cheery...it gives us something to look at, and talk about, and like. That's what it is, a project of happiness."

Her brushstrokes extend to Carroll County and further, traveling as far as she can to add some lightness to her corner of the world. The simple act of decorating a door spread out to connect neighbors and strangers in an act of beauty. To add elegance and lightness to the world in desperate need of it is admirable, especially when social isolation can lead a community to feel more cut off than ever.

Art is a community experience, and the current climate has not changed this. It merely caused it to evolve out of necessity. We now see art creep through the spaces between six feet. In this case, it appears as delicate filigree of golden peacocks and a field's worth of painted flowers.

To have your door turned into art, Sarah can be reached 717-629-1885. She also decorates courtyards, fences, garden gates, sheds, shutters, and mailboxes.