Artistry at your fingertips

Women can commission art work for their fingernails at many nail salons around Southeastern Illinois.

In Harrisburg the Fancy Nail and Spa salon, 835 E. Poplar St. offers many designs to the discerning client.

Lisa Phuong painted daisies on 15-year-old Thao Le's nails Tuesday.

Thao is a freshman at Harrisburg High School and is Vietnamese, born in the United States.

Phuong is from the south of Viet Nam and came to the United States in 2001.

The process is a two step affair. First a nail technician applies the foundation artificial extended nails to the clients fingernails. Then the artist begins work on the final design.

Thao wanted flowers and Phuong had many designs for her to pick from. She chose daisies on a black background and the final product is a testimony to her artistic abilities and to Le's good taste in selecting the design.

Is it a fad? Or is it an established artform? Only time will tell.

But it cannot be denied that it is beautiful.

Thao Le receives her foundation nail extensions from technician Vinny Nguyen.

The finished product was a design employing multiple daisies.

Lisa Phuong concentrates on her art for Thao Le, 15.