I've had some people ask me how big the actual Silver Spur sign is in real life.  Well, here ya go.  It's actually just a small little boot hanging off the side of one of the main sign poles.  The above pic was taken with the Holga.  Sorry the posts have been few and far between...I'm wrapping up another school year and we are about to move.  My time is pressed......but believe me during this little hiatus I've been envisioning some future projects, so that may interest some of you.

Well, we are on the home stretch with this one!  A few more small details and I'll paint the edges and give it a coat of varnish.  I've already got about 5-6 paintings in my head that I'm ready to get moving on.  I'm thinking a little more collage, mixed media, Texana meets abstract for the next few weeks.  What do ya think?

I was able to lay in some base colors today.  So far so good.  It may be over a week until I can get back to this one since I'll be out of pocket for a few days.  When I get back I hope to be able to share some good blog material!  I've got some cool stuff planned in the upcoming weeks!

Here is a sneak peek at my new painting.  It's 24 x 36 on gallery wrapped canvas.  I'm looking to make some progress today.  I'll post updates.  I'm REAL excited about this one!

                                        St. Elmo Motel - 20" x 20" - Acrylic on canvas
                                                         

Sorry I've been slow with the posts lately.  I've been pretty busy.  I was able to get some work done on my new painting today.  I'm almost there!  I need to get it finished for a local show that starts on Sunday.

I was up early Saturday morning......5:20 to be exact.  I was able to get in two solid hours of painting with no disruptions.  This is usually uncommon since I have two little ones keeping us busy.  Ryan Bingham radio on Pandora kept me company.  I was able to get some details put in on the top portion of the sign.  So far so good.

Here are few shots of my new painting.  I felt the need to kick off the New Year with a neon motel sign!  I've got tons of detail work to do on this one.  I'm just laying down the base colors now.  I'll keep you updated.

Above is a Holga shot of the Horseshoe Lounge in Austin, Texas.  This is one of my favorite signs around.  Prints in my Etsy shop.  I did a painting of the same sign a few years ago.  See it here.

I wanted to show off some of my recent purchases while I was out junkin'.  A few months ago I picked up a U.S. Highway 281 sign at Canton's First Monday Trade Days.  I saw it early in our day and I asked the guy in the booth what the price was....he said $50.  I said okay and walked away.  Knowing that I wasn't going to leave Canton without it I went back about 4 hours later and and told him I'd take it for $30.  He said fine.  It is a sentimental piece to me since this is one of the highways I traveled on a lot back in high school.  The other sign is from Texas Farm Road 2230 which is out in west Texas, north of Big Spring.  I got it for $18 at my wife's favorite spot in New Braunfels to shop - Max's Haus. As you know, I have a thing for old signs and I have a hard time passing them up when I find them for a good price.  They make for an interesting design element in our home.  I also threw in a better pic of my landscape painting from a few weeks ago.

Here is a picture of my new painting Hole In My Wall.  It's 20 x 20 on gallery wrapped canvas.  The background is an old 1960's Dallas street map.  It will be one of my pieces that will be on display at the VAGF's Discovery Member Show at the Frisco Discovery Center.

I finished up my newest painting yesterday.  It is a black painting of the Texan Motel sign in Raton, New Mexico. It is from a photograph I took this summer on our way back to Texas from Colorado.  I painted it on a 1960's Texas road map.  The title of the painting is "Sweet Home 11".  This is a Texas town and highway mile number that I didn't paint over on the center post of the sign.  Sometimes the ideas for titles of my paintings just pop out at me. Once I saw that on the post, I knew I couldn't paint over it and that it would be the title of the painting.  The painting measures 20 x 20 and is on gallery wrapped canvas with a 1.5" edge.  I'm planning on doing a few more pieces in this style with some of my sign pictures that I have taken.

It's amazing what I can accomplish when I make the time for it!  I buckled down yesterday and knocked this sucker out.  The painting is acrylic on a 15 x 30 canvas.  All I have left to do is varnish it and put a poplar wood border around it.....and of course name it - that takes me a while sometimes. I'm pretty happy with the outcome.  I had been wanting to do a sign with Rio Grande on it for a while.  Now my slate is clean.....I'm thinking some sort of collage painting may be next on the agenda.

Getting closer.  Still a lot of detail work to go! 

I was able to get a little work done on my new painting last week.  I have basically blocked in the backgrounds.  Now I will begin the lettering details and all of the neon tubing.  I will also add in all of the scratches, stains, and rust to finish it off.  Hopefully progress will be made in the upcoming week!

North Y in Carlsbad, NM