New sign painting on a scrap piece of wood. Liquor/Clown

‘Liquor/Clown Sign’, 11.75 x 25”, enamel and acrylic paint on 3/4” mdf
Inspired by the Circus Liquor store in North Hollywood, California.

All signs for sale, pick a link to connect! https://www.thewonderfulworldof.com/links
And as always…. thanks for the support!

New sign painting on a scrap piece of masonite

‘Tastes Great! 2’, 24 x 22”. Enamel and acrylic paint on masonite. Inspired by classic ice cream cone packaging.
You can see the original Tastes Great! HERE (completed back in March 2020, during the height of the pandemic) The original sign sold so that is why I decided to make another one. Bigger and better!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

Hand painted sign on Rives BFK.
”Corn Dog” 18.75 x 26.25” Enamel and latex paint on paper.

‘A corn dog (also spelled corndog) is a sausage (usually a hot dog) on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried. It originated in the United States and is commonly found in American cuisine.’

New work - Fairground food signs on printmaking paper

New sign painting on Rives BFK.
”Soft and Fresh Pretzels” 18.75 x 26.25” Acrylic, enamel, and latex paint on paper.

The fairground food signage continues… next up? French fries! … (I think)

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

Snow Cones, 18.75 x 26.25”, enamel and acrylic paint on Rives printmaking paper.

The fairground food signs continue! This particular piece was a bit tricky because of the color transition. Most snow cones are two to three colors but for this I decided to go with the whole spectrum. The outline was a big help because I could hide the paint runoff. It gave me some space..
Yellow and purple are so transparent it took awhile to build up the colors but in the end their misgivings helped add to the rawness of the work. Plus, I don’t see the point in making things too clean. I guess that is a reaction to when I used to work for Takashi Murakami.

To view more samples of my sign painting please go to my Flickr Page
Signs and prints available on my Saatchi Art page or contact me direct.

Now based in Minneapolis, MN… if your interested in sign painting for your business or home then please click on the sign painting link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

Onion Rings, 18.75 x 26.25”, enamel and acrylic paint on Rives printing paper.

The carnival food signs continue! It is always a balancing act as to whether or not I want to add a graphic to the text. Obviously for this one it didn’t seem necessary but…
The colors I went with reminded me of a Melvins shirt I used to wear in the 90’s. I got it for free when their label was promoting their album in Gainesville, FL… useless knowledge for sure but I thought I would put it out there anyway. Ha!

To view more samples of my sign painting please go to my Flickr Page
Signs and prints available on my Saatchi Art page or contact me direct.

Now based in Minneapolis, MN… if your interested in sign painting for your business or home then please click on the sign painting link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

New hand painted sign on printing paper.

“Pop Corn” enamel, acrylic, and latex paint, 18.75 x 26.25” 2021
This sign is a bit of an oddball in that there are stripes and such, but it just felt appropriate. Perhaps when I get the whole series done it won’t look so different.

If you didn’t know:
“Popcorn (popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names are also used to refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the seed's hard, starchy shell endosperm with 14–20% moisture, which turns to steam as the kernel is heated. Pressure from the steam continues to build until the hull ruptures, allowing the kernel to forcefully expand, from 20 to 50 times its original size, and then cool.”

If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

New hand painted sign on printing paper.
”Cotton Candy” enamel, acrylic, and latex paint, 18.75 x 26.25”, 2021

In case you didn’t know:
“Cotton candy or Candy Floss is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring. The candy is made by heating and liquefying sugar, spinning it centrifugally through minute holes—by which the sugar rapidly cools and re-solidifies into fine strands. It is often sold at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and festivals—served in a plastic bag or on a stick or paper cone. Cotton candy is made and sold globally—as candy floss in the UK, Ireland, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, and as fairy floss in Australia and New Zealand. Similar confections include the Korean Kkul-tarae and the Persian pashmak.”

If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

New hand painted sign on paper.

“Ice Cold Drinks” enamel and latex paint, 18.75 x 26.25” 2021

This piece is sporting the Icy caps to help accentuate the cold. I’m probably going to do those again when I get to snow cones. This one is obviously text only but I might do another one down the road with a cup + straw in it. Soda, orange, and grape drink are the first to come to mind.

If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

New hand painted signs on printing paper.
”Hot Dogs - Plump and Juicy” enamel, acrylic, and latex paint. 18.75 x 26.25”

Things are on a roll here! Since moving to Minneapolis, MN I have been focused on painting signs relating to fairground food, or maybe its carnival food. Are they the same thing(?)
Right now I have twelve food items I would like to address, snow cones, pretzels, corn dogs, etc.

Why the interest in this imagery? Usually when I get an idea I just go with it so that I don’t overthink things. But perhaps I’m feeling nostalgic after being in pandemic lockdown for so long… or maybe I want to indulge in junk food… I’m not sure. Or food relating to entertainment? I told myself that I didn’t want to make art anymore so perhaps these paintings are the antithesis of that statement.

If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!

New fairground food signs in the pipeline.

New sign painting on paper, 16x26" each. (These are not photographed correctly but I wanted to share them anyway) I decided to make a series of food signs.... because, well, maybe that's just how I feel lately. Comfort food for some, junk food for others. Definitely nostalgic, blatant.

More to come! Pop-corn might be next, or cotton candy(?)

Discovered long lost article about my grandfather, James F. O'Brien.

Strange days… so I was contacted by a gentleman recently by the name of Steve Carlton. Apparently he was a friend of my father, James Terence O’Brien, and they go way back to the 1950’s when they met in high school. Steve reached out to me because he had an old scrapbook that he wanted to give me that had some photos and articles about my late father. He told me that my dad used to stay with his grandparents in Minneapolis, MN when he was performing at the Gay 90’s (a strip bar/night club). Terry talked about this period of his life in his book ‘Close but no cigar - A street urchins tale’

In the scrapbook there was an article about my grandfather that I had never seen before. My grandfather, James F. O’Brien, was a musician and composer. I didn’t really know him… he died when I was young. But I was told that he played with a lot of hot musicians back in the day. This article gave me a peek as to who he was. It might have been written in the late 50’s.

“Music and the man who makes it
There’s more to music than playing an instrument. When you have that extra talent for arranging you’re a key man in any orchestra. Maybe that’s why James F. O’Brien has been “the man behind the man” for some of the very best. Jim started out with the Durfee High School band as a trumpeter but soon found a steady job (once a week) playing piano at the Grace Hathaway Lewis dance studio. With his indoctrination O’Brien went on to play with Larry Gadsby on New England tours. Gadsby in those days had a show band and played theaters as well. Before long O’Brien was writing musical arrangements for various vaudeville acts. Working out of Boston he played for leaders Tony Bruno, Phil Saltman, and several others. Few people do what they like… to work at in military service but the Navy used Jim O’Brien’s talent to the fullest, making him the bandleader at Pier 92, …. a busy spot in ‘44 and ‘45.
Discharged in 1946, he spent a year in Gotham and arranged for Count Basie and other name bands. In recent years he had…..”

I can’t really read the right side but hopefully I can remove the tape when it is given to me and see the rest of the story! I’ll update this blog post when I do!

New artwork posted on my website

I started painting on small 4 x5” pieces of foam core because… well, I was running out of room to be honest. Big art can be a big problem if you can’t find a home for it. So working small is the way to go, at least for me, at least for now.

These started off as individual works. The first one (upper right) was started sometime during the pandemic. Bottom right was second, top left was third. Just making shapes, lines, excitement, imagery that might be associated with the circus arts. It wasn’t until the end of the year that I finished the bottom left. But once it was completed I noticed that they all related to one another (it wasn’t really on my radar at the time). Perhaps this is my take on the year 2020. Only now, right before the holidays, I was able to see it.

So here’s to hoping that things will pick up in 2021: to a better life, peace, prosperity, and a better understanding.

“Four topics, one conversation”, enamel paint on four pieces of foam core, 5 x 4” each.
Check it on my website: http://www.thewonderfulworldof.com/#/mixedmediaartworkseamusliamobrien/