Window Gift for a new brewpub in Chicago

This is a a window made for a friend to gift to his client, a new brew pub in Chicago called Forbidden Root. This design is not mine, it is Forbidden Root's coaster image. Awesome gift for a cool place.

Sign For Best Friend's Wedding... and... Welcome to Signs By Bean, Off-White Paint

A few days after the Renegade art fair I received an email from Josh, titled, Sign For My Best Friends' Wedding. Josh was looking for a custom painting to give as a unique customized gift to newlyweds, the Czerwinski's. His email said he wanted something fresh and unique. Josh just recently picked up his custom sign gift. Thanks for you patience, Josh! This window came out great. The frame polished up nicely, with a lovely black brown wood gradient to lighter brown wood. Also, I love the almond color I've been using lately. It's almost exactly the same color of vintage milk glass. It reminds me of pharmacies, bottles, labels, store signage, from the early 1900s. You can imagine it, a white glass Pharmacy sign with black and gold sign painting. Or white glass bulbs that say "Bar" or "Bank". I don't want to change my color style too much, I love you black and gold 1 Shot sign paint. But my next design (coming soon, another custom window) does include the third color. Welcome to Signs By Bean, off - white paint...

Czerwinski Approx 33ish x 31ish inches SOLD (bad cell phone image quality... sorry)

Custom Mini Window For My Old Bud, Mandy, A Gift For Her Mom's Birthday

Happy b day Sara! My good friend, Mandy, one of my first buds here in Chicago, commissioned this mini window for her mom's birthday. It's intended to hang at her work where she practices craniosacral therapy.
Listed are certifications and her name. Her practice is called Lunar Tide Bodywork, hence the moon and wave.
The frame is handmade by me from repurposed wood flooring from an old Chicago school building. This recycled wood comes from my buds at the ReBuilding Exchange in Chicago.

Sara Johnston SOLD

The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock N Roll

You thinkin'.. Muddy Waters? Yep, you're right! This is a song by Muddy Waters that you can listen to here on youtube.
Great artist, good song, and a statement on it's own...deserved a window.
This one sold at Renegade.

Blues Baby SOLD

Ships Were Made for Sinking... Whiskey for Drinking!

Here we are with an excerpt from a Squirrel Nut Zippers song.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Big beautiful Chicago bungalow window with a lightly refurbished frame and fresh clear coat.
Hope you're not a sailor!

Listen to the song and watch the video here.

Original drawing and design. Old time sailor tattoo lettering on top and railroad lettering on the bottom. The water is drawn from an old 30s record label.
And yeah,  flipped and reversed the water to mirror as a whiskey ocean to hold the bottom lettering.
First window to sell at the Renegade Art Fair.

"Ships were made for Sinking, Whiskey for Drinking!" SOLD

Photos in the Sun-Times

My booth had TWO photos featured in the Sun-Times..

http://www.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=14998660

The Harmonica Shoppe

The Harmonica Shoppe? What kinda shop only sells harmonicas and what kinda shop spells it like shoppe? (pronounced, shaw-pee while sticking out your pinky finger over a cup of tea)

Well I don't know. But I think it looks great and the wind-ow is one of the oldest I've worked with. So I find it to be neat.

I have been thinking about old-timey musical instruments lately.
I'm always listenin' to music and recently enjoyed the sounds of new bluegrass, southern influenced, country songs. I've been hanging out with the audio representations of Steve Earle, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Heartless Bastards, Townes Van Zandt, and Justin Townes Earle...just to name a few.

Well, I figured I'd make a real old timey sign... something that doesn't include drinking this time!

Also, I've been dreamin' lately of getting a banjo, a trumpet even. But I may end up with an easier-on-the-pocket solution.. a harmonica.
We've had an unseasonably pleasant spring here in Chicago, maybe I'll sit around the fire tonight and play a tune.

Refinished wood frame, stripped, stained and clear coated
Also, due to this window's old age, I've reinforced the glass. I added some glazier points and clear window caulk. 

"The Harmonica Shoppe" Measures 22.5in x 22in $190