Coming Back to Life

Wow...life sure swept me away for a while!!!! I haven't made the time in my life to post a new blog page here since shortly after my daughters wedding last September. Sometimes life has a way of taking over and shifting priorities for you!

I have to say that last year was one of the most difficult and stressful of my life! I started out the year not liking where I was living, so early in the year I began looking for a house to buy. After viewing 26 different homes, I finally made an offer on one of them in May. I was going to be a project leader for a large mural painting project in Pontiac, Il at the end of June so we moved the closing date out to July 10th. Just before the mural event my father had emergency surgery and was then put in a coma to recover for week.

That was the same week the mural event was scheduled in Pontiac. Some Walldog friends of mine suggested that I go ahead and go to the mural event because I wasn't going to be of much help to my Dad in his condition. I decided that he wouldn't want me just sitting around on his account so I went to the mural event and ended up dedicating the mural to my dad. Unfortunately, my Dad didn't pull through and ended up passing away on July 5th, 2009, His funeral was scheduled for July 9th in Menomonie, WI and I was scheduled to close on my house in Milwaukee on July 10th.

After all that I had to focus on finishing up the programs and slide show for my daughters wedding. She got married on September 12th and the wedding went off very well in spite of all my worries!

In Pontiac I had met a local girl who was painting on the Coca-Cola mural across the street from my project. We started dating shortly before my daughter's wedding and have been hitting it off really well since. We are now planning a life together and are looking forward to many happy years together.

So that's my excuse for being so casual about posting on this blog. But let's get back to the reason for this blog in the first place.

In my last post I was talking about setting up a studio space to work in my basement so I could do some smaller oil paintings. I did get my easels set up and completed a painting for my daughter which I ended up giving to her for Christmas.








Early in January I completed some work for the World of Wheels - Pinstripe Legends Charity event in Milwaukee, WI. At this event, artists from around the country come to the event to paint auto themed art panels to auction off with all proceeds going to the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. I painted a couple panels for the event which were donated to be sold at the auctions. Overall we raised over $46,000 at the event.

This is one of my panels....Lettering enamel on painted steel




This panel painted by Ray Drea and signed by Chip Foose ended up bringing over $5000!!!





At the Milwaukee event I was invited to the World of Wheels charity event to be held on March 6th ands 7th in Chicago. I was told that there was going to be several vintage drag cars at the show so I decided to do a fine art style oil painting on canvas for the event. Since there was going to be a few of Don Garlits' Swamp Rat Dragsters at the show I used that as the theme for my painting. I ending up painting a close-up of one of the blown hemi engines used in Don's dragsters.

Here's the finished piece....




I also finished up a couple additional metal panels for the event...



The Chicago event was able to raise over $59,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland.

The next event coming up in my life is the Dog Gone Dandy Walldog mural painting event in Danville, IL. I will be leading one of 15 murals with 165 artists scheduled to attend. My theme for the event is the Illinois Balloon Classic event. My wall is about 29 feet wide by 40 feet tall. This one should be interesting! 15 mural 4 days!

Here is the art proof for my project....




And how I hope that it looks at the end of the Walldog event!





Well, That's it for now. Hopefully I can manage to post again before another 6 months passes by......peace

That'll Need Two Coats!!

Before I get lost in another day, I promised myself that I was going to update this blog...today! Seems like I can only sit down and get this done about once a month!

The last time I posted was shortly after I moved into my new house.....

In my last post I talked a bit about some of the renovations that I had done on my house and promised to show a few projects. I think I will start with the office which was a kids bedroom in it's last life.

Before I get started with that, I want to explain my absence from the my Blog. On September 12, 2009, my only daughter Jacque got married up in Northwest Wisconsin. I was asked by Jacque if I could help her design and make all the invites, programs and put together a slide show for her and her new husband. She also did "Save The Date" magnets but those were ordered online off-the-shelf and didn't require any additional work on my part.

We finished all the invites a while back so that left me with 150 programs to get finished before the big day. I basically set-up a print shop in my office and expanded it to the kitchen table. I designed (with the guidance of my daughter of course), printed on custom paper, then assembled all of the programs. Not sure how much I saved by doing this but they turned out really well...








I can't let this post go without showing a few pictures from my daughter's wedding. It was a lovely warm day in mid September and the whole day went really well. I'm so proud of her and am happy to welcome my new son-in-law into the family....











OK, now back to the main reason for this post. I wanted to show one of the rooms that I updated just before moving into my new house. I have a full-time job but I have always done some freelance work on the side. I also travel around the country painting murals with a group called the Letterheads, so I need an office space to work in.

My new house had a small back bedroom that would serve the purpose but it needed to be updated! I do enjoy staying in touch with my inner-child but this was just too much!










Hideous right! So I stocked up on stain blocking primer because most of the rooms looked like they would need two coats of primer....which they did! I tried to pick out a pallet of colors for the rooms that looked more appropriate to the period that the home was built in. That being about 1960. I also tried to use colors which a greater percentage of people actually like.

I ended up painting my new office space a color called "Slender Reed". BTW, who names these colors and where can I get a job like that? The color is very rich and tranquil at the same time. And they all look like something that might have been originally used in the house when it was built. The closets were never really updated so I painted the closet walls the same color, trimmed it all in white, and re-painted the ceilings in white also. I also choose these lighter shades of color because under that goofy carpet there is solid oak flooring....another future project!




As soon as I get some shelves from IKEA and hang up all my "Wall of Fame" photos, I'll post a before and after series on this update.

Next up I am looking at setting up a space to do some oil paintings in. The only space really big enough and available is in my basement. Out of a need to get a painting done for Christmas, I temporarily set something up down there and started painting once again. Perhaps next time I can explore some of the ideas I have for that space and the challenges they present.....take care for now.

Saying Goodbye....

Geez, it's been over a month since I had time to sit down and add a new post here. Lately I have felt like I jumped on a carnival ride that on second thought wasn't such a good idea.....let me try and explain

My last post was just before the big Walldog event in Pontiac, Il. Not to take away anything from any other past event but Pontiac was an incredible meet. The locals were great. The host family (the Diaz Gang) are the best folks....Ever. We had many great food options every day. Music and festivities in the evening. The temps were as high as the spirited Letterhead painting crew. We really painted up the town on this one. It was a great event all around.

A thousand little things have happened over the past month and a few rather huge ones also. Shortly before the Walldog event, my Father had major surgery and only had a 50/50 chance of survival. He did make it through the surgery and was put into an induced coma during the week of the Walldog event. It was suggested by many friends that I continue on with the meet (as planned for over a year) and spend time with my Letterhead friends who are like family to me! It was very good medicine to be in the company of such wonderful caring and fun people. It really helped me out and my Father was not able to receive visitors until the following week, so off I went.

After the event, I returned to my home town up North (300 miles from where I live now) for the 4th of July weekend hoping that my Father's health had made a turn for the better. Unfortunately the opposite was true. His condition had deteriorated rapidly when I visited him on the 3rd of July. He was not doing well at all. The morning of the 4th of July, my daughter called me and said I should come say my goodbyes because they were not sure how much longer he could hang on. So I spent 25 hours by his bedside at the hospital saying goodbye, and yet he hung on.

On my return trip to Milwaukee on the evening of the 5th of July I received the call saying my Dad had passed away just after 9pm. We had his memorial service on Thursday the 9th of July with military honors, and many friends and extended family members showed up to say goodbye.

Now I had been planning on closing on my house on July 10th for six weeks or so. So instead of canceling until who knows when, I drove the 300 miles back to MIlwaukee and managed to make the meeting in the late afternoon. I'm sure my dad would not have wanted me to make a big deal out of it, that's just the way he was.

I closed on the house on July 10th and finally moved in on the 25th of July. I do have several renovation stories related to the move in but first i wanted to finish this post with a story about my Dad and mural painting.....

Back in the Summer of 2000, I painted my first real solo mural for some good friends of mine on their barn in Northern Wisconsin. The barn happened to be close to my home town and my Dad was in the area and drove out many days to see how I was progressing. Each day he would usually pull up a chair and sit and watch for a while. The mural was only 28' to the top but he made many comments about the height we were working at. Things like...."back in the navy (WWII) I could hang off the side of a ship but you couldn't get me up there now".

Well, for some reason my Dad really thought that mural was something special. Near the end of the project he told me..."Nice work Son, I'm proud of you". Heck, I was just doing what I love to do. Slinging paint in the hot summer sun, high up in the air!







When one of my dear Letterhead friends suggested I go on down to the Pontiac mural event, have some fun and dedicate the mural to my Dad, that's just what I did. I found a way to put his name on the mural that would not take away from the historic nature of the original theme. Growing up, I heard my Dad tell many stories about the Model T and Model A that he had. So, while I was painting the Model T car on the mural it came to me that I could put my Dad's initials and birth year on the license plate.





That's all for now. I shall return with my adventures in home renovation sometime soon I hope. It's all those little things that catch you off guard right?

Goodbye Dad.....My Heart Goes With you!

Chief City Runs with the Dogs

On June 24th I will be driving down to Pontiac, IL to take part in the "Chief City Runs With the Dogs" mural painting event. I am one of 16 project leaders heading up one of 16 or 17 murals being painted over a four day period. There are 150 artist registered for this event from as far away as Germany. The city has put a lot of effort into planning and organizing this event and turning it into a city wide celebration! You can find more info at this site.....

Chief City Website

In preparation for this event the project leaders are provided an information packet and asked to submit a mural concept for review and approval. I posted an earlier blog regarding the concept rendering process that I used for this project. I have finished the hand rendering of the maquette and will be framing and donating it for an auction taking place at the event on Saturday evening.

Currently, I am in the process of printing out all the reference art sheets that will be used during the painting of this mural project. I have no idea who will be helping me paint the mural over the course of the four days but I know it will be completed at the end of the event. Basically the artists attending the event just walk up and ask, "can I help". So, when someone walks up to volunteer, I need to have reference sheets to hand them to get started. I am printing both transparencies that will be used to project and layout the mural, as well as color images of the art. The color copies of the art will also be used as a reference for paint color mixing/matching.





Here is a "simplified" version of the transparencies that will be used to project the image onto the 8' x 12' aluminum panels....removing most of the color and getting it down to basic outlines works best for projecting.





I also cropped and enlarged detailed areas of the art in Adobe Photoshop and printed them out on good quality photo paper to make painting a bit easier when the time comes.





I'm never sure if there will be printers available at the event to produce additional reference materials, so I try to print all the copies I think I will need before hand.

When it comes to overhead projectors, I have used many different machines from various manufacturers. The one I have chosen and hold in high regard is the Apollo Ventura Portable Overhead Projector. Hands down the best projector for this type of work! It's lightweight, portable , and best of all produces an excellent image with very little distortion.





Another thing I have found pretty handy for this type of work is a projector stand. There are quite a few available from different manufacturers but I am in the process of building my own. Back in 2006 I helped Kurt Gaber of Gaber Signs with his second running of the "Brush Bash" Mural painting event in Chippewa Falls, WI. In preparation for that event, Kurt asked a local welding shop to build a projector stand to be used over the course of the event. After the event was over, Kurt kindly gave me the stand to take home to use on future projects. Below is the unit that was built in Chippewa.




Although this unit has served me quite well, I am redesigning a new lighter weight version. The original stand was constructed of steel tubing, while very sturdy, it is fairly heavy. On occasion it is required that we project images on two-story roofs which requires carrying or lifting the sections of this stand up ladders or scaffolding. I have purchased aluminum tubing for most of the new parts and also bent the projector platform out of stainless steel. I think over time you will notice my love of all things stainless steel! I will post some pictures of the stand as it comes along. But first I have to learn how to weld aluminum! Or as they say across the pond Al-U-minEum!