Operation Ivy or Nancy Sinatra?

Op Ivy! Yeah, Nancy did it well, with her knee high boots and all, but I'm referring to the punk rock version from Tim Armstrong and his steel toed Doc Martens. Plus, this neat window with the tough metal L brackets was perfect for a punk rock song. Operation Ivy was the band that turned into Rancid. Check it out, you decide which is best:
Nancy or Operation Ivy!?
Plus, this neat window with the tough metal L brackets was perfect for a punk rock song.
These Boots SOLD!

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

Hey Chicago! Showing This Saturday @ Strange Beauty!

Chicagoans, come join Signs By Bean and my buddies at the Strange Beauty Show Salon on Ashland ave, just south of Division. Check out the flyer for more info or visit their website here (strange beauty)

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

A Look Back at The Celebratory End of Prohibition

I've always wanted to make a window in the style of a newspaper headline. What's more celebratory than the end of prohibition!? All original writing, although, I am sure there was a headline that read "Prohibition Has Been Repealed." The tagline was written by me and the date, price, and one copy is the same as on original newspapers from that day in history.
'Cause, if you can imagine, if this day never came... we wouldn't have booze today! Aaahh!
Frame is stripped, stained, and clear coated.
Sold at Renegade Handmade Art Fair.
"Extra! Extra! Prohibition has been Repealed!" SOLD

You Scream... and then I'll Scream Even Louder 'Cuz I Want Some Damn Ice Cream!

Man, I love ice cream in the summer time. Yeah, I'm a simple classic person and enjoy plain ol vanilla bean ice cream.
Get me in the freezer aisle at the grocery store and I'm all over whatever pint is on sale. Cincinnati's flavor is Graeter's Ice Cream which has made it across Indiana and into Chicago's Jewel grocery store. Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip is my jam.
Karamel Sutra, Americone Dream, Coffee, Pistachio, Vanilla Bean Espresso, Chocolate Chip... I'm making myself hungry!
Here is a neat classic 50s, 60s ice cream sign. Lettering is that of classic sign painters. Painted wood frame. Sold at Renegade Art Fair.

"Ice Cream, One Scoop!" SOLD

Double Pain - Bourbon Whiskey

I've said before, paned wind-ows are always a pain. But this guy wasn't a trouble. Why not paint two of my favorite things? Haha, simple and to the point. A nice couple picked up this window at the Renegade Art Fair. 

'Whiskey' is a lettering similar to bank signs from the late 1800s, early 1900s. And the 'Bourbon' lettering is from railroad signage. The frame has been stripped, stained and clear coated.

Check out some of these lovely afternoon sunny photos!

"Bourbon Whiskey" 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

'[Signs By Bean], a "Super Maker" of a lost art'

Pretty cool!
On the top of the page, too!
http://www.renegadecraft.com/super-makers-super-handmade

Thanks Abbey!

Just received and email today from a recent customer, Abbey, with a link to some great photos she took of "Miss New Orleans" in her home.
Check it out, it looks hot.
Thanks!

Photos of "Miss New Orleans" hanging in its' new home