Vagabond

Here I am, in my suspenders, brown paper hat, denim shirt on cuffed jeans, 1950s aluminum eyeglasses, staring off into the distance while sitting on my leather suitcase while my green military backpack hangs off my shoulders.
Psh.
Might as well be in a Jack Kerouac novel. Though...
I must say, I would love to hop a freight train or two before I kick the bucket.
What a life it can be. Living off the land. Meeting new people everyday. Being alone, just you and your imagination. Seeing faces of the American landscape in a way not many ever will.
Drinkin' port and whiskey by a fire. Cozyin' up in a warm bag to stare at the stars. Awww, all those Kerouac characters must not have had any jobs.

I just recently took a drive through the most exciting face of the American landscape... Indiana and Illinois. Yee haw.
I went for the yearly September visit to see the ol' family for some birthdays. Instead of rockin' out to some good ol blues and NPR for the drive, I decided to renew my Chicago Public Library card and download (I know, I never thought I'd say it) some audio books.
The selection was a bit slim and Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums ended up on my ipod.
A life of adventure, feeling carefree, and exploration (with some drunkenness and creative soul searching thrown in there) isn't a bad thing.


Here's to the vagabonds. My favorite so far. Approx 32in x 24in. - SOLD

Let me run to New Orleans in the winter

Chicago is a great city in the summer months. Festivals (I rarely go but the idea that other people do is great), music shows, food, beer, sunshine, the beach (also never go but I hear stories from my friends and it sounds wonderful), bicycle rides in the middle of the night, sitting outside late just talkin' and drinkin'... Chicago is alive in summertime.
But... summer only lasts, maybe, 3 months. Fall and Spring seem to stick around for a week, maybe two. Then there it is...
Dreaded, awful, windy, cold, dark, dreary WINTER IN CHICAGO. So last winter I got the fire in me to go down South for the evil season. I stayed a month and enjoyed my vacation from mother nature.

I painted this window when it felt unseasonably (it was still summer!) chilly and dreary. My initial response to this sort of weather is to stay upstairs in my apartment with some Tom Waits singing from the turntable, the sounds of his instruments and booming voice rippling the surface of my whiskey...

So here we are, Tom Waits lyrics about New Orleans. 32in x 24inSOLD

In Process

In process detail

Add caption

Complete

There's the cat creepin' in the background. Well, the sun came out after I finished it so I know to keep complaining when the weather isn't right and it will correct itself.

Moonshine

 My other life is as a bicycle mechanic at a small shop in Chicago. Every year, sometimes twice, we will host a swap meet or big bicycle parts sale. We deal mostly in vintage parts and bicycles and will host several other bicycle buddy vendors to come out and sell/swap.

It's a two day event, with that evening full of celebration and fun with our buddies and sale success. The next morning, I am up early feeling groggy and drag myself to the shop to prepare for the second day of our sale.

Coffee in hand I mosey up to the door and a shop buddy, Adam, looks at me and says, Well goodmorning Moonshine!

Apparently I shine better while the moon is out.

Or I like moonshine.
Either way he calls me that to this day. Here it is, MOONSHINE. Approx 28in x 15in SOLD

I got a mind to ramble

"I'M A RAMBLIN' MAN
WITH A RAMBLIN' MIND"

I heard this song from some three day studio recordings produced by CBS in 1966.
Painting is approx 17 1/2 x 17 1/2in  (SOLD)

Whiskey neat is a wonderful thing but what about on the rocks?

Champion Jack Dupree says it well in an unreleased recording (honestly, I do not remember where or how I heard this song originally... I wrote down the lyrics and jack's name one late night last winter sitting in a buddy's apartment sippin' on stouts... Anyway, I have searched for this song and have found others' versions of it that seem to be later. For credit reasons, I do not know who wrote or performed it first. My interest was in Jack Dupree's version.)

I GET MY WATER FROM THE ROCKS IN MY DRINK (SOLD!)

In progress

Detail after gold

Champion Jack Dupree doesn't have a birthplace or state of origin... no one knows. As a young orphan he was taken in by folks down in Louisiana and grew to be known as a New Orleans/Chicago Blues artist. Many of his songs talk about drinking, late night carousing, womanizin', lovin', and even drug takin'. But, Dupree was not a heavy drinker, was faithful to his wife, and did not abuse drugs. He always said he knew what the people wanted to hear. A person is in the bar listening to the blues for a reason, one of which maybe he could sing about despite experience.
One of my favorites.

Some videos of Jack's well known tunes:
"Bad Whiskey and Wild Women" Youtube: "Bad Whiskey and Wild Women"
"Junker's Blues" Youtube: Junker's Blues

Approx. 23in x 49in  (SOLD)

My first wind-ow

What do you do with interests in classic american sign painting, repurposing/reusing vintage materials, drinking, and the blues?
Well I guess ya just strap on your suspenders, throw on your hat, straddle up to the easel, tune the stereo to Phono 1 and get to work.
My first blues interests were folks such as Robert Johnson, Furry Lewis, Elmore James, Lil Walter, Champion Jack Dupree, Muddy Waters, and plenty more.
I found myself drawing out classic American sign styles while listening to and watching old Smithsonian film recordings of these talented musicians.

Design and fonts are also a big interest of mine. Say a word and a font or letter style will pop into my head. As a student of conceptual art, casually painting blues lyrics and incorporating font styles and small design elements felt refreshing. Simply making something that feels and looks good is satisfying.

I use 1 Shot paint; it's an oil based enamel specifically used for sign painting. Black is usually 2 coats and the gold is 2-3 coats. I paint from the backside of the windows, in reverse of whatever I am painting, to achieve a slick surface on the front glass next to the rough vintage wood. Most of the windows are from 1920s Chicago bungalows.

Well, back to it. What's better than drinking whiskey, paintin', listening to some of the greatest musicians and lyricists of American culture?

'Whiskey' is approximatey 30in x 19in. (SOLD)