Hand painted signage on a piece of luan. Inspired by the book “Creepy Carrots” by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown. Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. This book has become a favorite of my daughters and there is one particular page that really got my attention so…
‘Creepy’, 16.5 x 27 5/8”, enamel, acrylic, latex, and spray paint on wood. 2021
“What Did That Say?”, enamel, acrylic paint on wood, 10 x 16.75”, 2021.
New piece is inspired by the book ‘The monster at the end of this book - starring lovable, furry old Grover’.
What can I say, I just had to make this sign… along with a couple of other oddballs that I will be posting soon.
To view more samples of my sign painting please check out my Flickr Page
Signs and prints available on my Saatchi Art page or email 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!
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!
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 hand painted sign on a scrap piece of wood; small one this time… 6.5 x 4.5”. Inspired by text I saw on an Oatly milk carton, (as I drink their product everyday when I pour milk into my coffee).
So that is one interpretation, but I must say that things have been rather dramatic lately so maybe that’s the other inspiration.
If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!
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 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 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 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!
May is Mental Health Month and in support of NAMI MN and its mission to champion justice, dignity, and respect for all people affected by mental illnesses, I have joined the All Together Auction. May 10 - May 17, 2021.
I am giving away a hand painted sign (unicorn not included) with other amazing contributions from over 60 small businesses, artists and makers!
“It is like nothing that has ever happened to you before!”
Enamel paint on an Ikea cabinet door
23.5 x 25”, 2020
Help us crush our fundraising goal of $5,000 and help @nami_minnesota_helps expand their mental health services to support more Minnesotans. Bid now!
And as always… thanks for the support!!
Spring time in MPLS. Magical unicorns LOVE hand painted signs…
https://bit.ly/2R7PQ54 - Bid now!
Hand painted sign donated for All Together Auction in support of NAMI MN https://bit.ly/2R7PQ54
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(?)
Last week I purchased a framed print (print of a painting) by Hugh Knollys, titled ‘Red Jacket’ (which I am assuming is the name of the ship). The painting/print cost around $3.00. I chose this particular piece because it was available, but also because I felt that there was room for collaboration. A rubber duck was painted on the print and then the piece was returned to Hidden Treasures Thrift Store on April 17, 2021, 4:30pm. (2915 Pentagon Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55418)
Read MoreOne of the side projects I am working on is purchasing art at thrift stores, painting something on it, and then returning it. It was an idea I got from the artist Steve Seeley back in graduate school a long time ago, but the idea has been festering inside of me ever since. Since there are a lot of thrift stores in Minneapolis… well, it felt like maybe now was the time to finally move on it.
Read MoreStrange 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!
Nice to see Sign painter @DustySigns on the April cover of MPLS - St Paul Magazine. Any promotion to help the raise awareness to the craft is a good thing… A rising tide lifts all boats!
New hand painted sign:
‘NICE’, 8.25 x 13”, enamel, acrylic, latex paint on a scrap piece of plywood.
With this sign I was more interested in the color combo… although have you ever heard about Minnesota N’ICE? It’s probably nothing. Although I have been thinking about it. Or maybe this sign just came out looking good. For example: “That is a NICE looking painting.”
To view more sign work, check out my Flickr page
Sign and prints available to purchase on my Saatchi Art web page
If interested in sign painting for your business or home check out my website for more information: (Now based in Minneapolis, MN!) http://www.thewonderfulworldof.com/signpainting
