We will be at the West Coast Art and Frame Show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 29 - 31. This is a trade only show so the public is not allowed in. However if you are in the art trade please drop by our booth, #1136, for your Free “Bob’s Big Boy” poster.

We will be showing our “FantaSigns” and “Road/Signs” art series available to resellers, frame shops, and art galleries.

The Artists Colony in historic downtown Pomona, California, holds an open house the second Saturday of each month. The downtown arts colony is part of a renovation project, similar to others such as the Gas Lamp district in San Diego and the Artists Village, in Santa Ana.

Although not as large as other arts villages Pomona does have a nice eclectic mixture of arts and culture. The open house is from 6 to 9 pm.
To get more information about the open house visit the colony’s web site.

October is Art and Framing Month so I am writing a series of informational posts in keeping with the festivities. (Note: I was to have a post about visiting a Kinkade Gallery today however I was under the weather this weekend so I will do so next week. My apologies)

The following tips are from the National Art and Framing Council. They are general but they will give you a good start when buying art.
1. Are you looking for art to hang in a particular place? If so be sure to measure that space. If possible, a snapshot of the area would be very helpful when you work with the gallery staff.

2. Ask questions. Any reputable art dealer should “know their stuff” and be happy to share information with you. Ask about the artist and the media. Is it a reproduction or an original? Ask them to explain how the art was made.

3. What style should you buy? Which artist? Buy what you like. Unless you are a collector developing a body of work, your choices should be based on what you will enjoy.

4. Having trouble with your decisions? Can’t quite picture the piece in your space? Ask if you can take it home on approval. This may have limitations due to the value and you’ll probably have to pay for it with the understanding you may return it in a couple days.

5. When pricing, compare apples to apples. Artwork may look similar, but may actually be different media created in a different way that affects the value, longevity, etc. If you are looking at art online remember the colors will be different in real life. Monitors and scanners cannot faithfully duplicate the original. Sizes may also differ. They may be listed by the size of the image, the paper it is printed on or the outside size of the frame.

6. Learn about types of art. Books, gallery walks, and museum visits and tours will expose you to many forms of art. Go out and see “the real thing.” Art fairs are a great place to talk to artists about what they do and how they create the work.

It might seem like a simple thing but hanging art can be, well, an art. Raise your hand if you’ve tried to hang something on the wall and then realized you’ve made a mistake that will now take putty and paint to fix or the piece didn’t quite work visually? (My hand is raised by the way)

When you see art hung really well in a model home or in a photo in Architectural Digest realize that there was planning involved. By following the 5 steps listed by Art.com you can prevent some of the mistakes we all have made when hanging art.
Here is a quick preview of the 5 steps:

1. Have a Plan

2. Create a Grouping

3. Seek Balance

4. Take Action

5. Add Lighting

To get a more indepth explination of these steps visit Art.com and learn how the pros do it.

Route 66 News blog has reported that the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is proposing a ban on existing neon signs. Central Avenue, the heart of the city, is part of the old Route 66. I have painted several Albuquerque Route 66 images such as the El Don Motel, Hiway House Motel, and the famous El Vado Motel.

My subject matter consists of these old signs. I wanted to record these artistic creations before they are banished to history.

It looks like I may need to hurry a little faster.

Disneyshopping.com has released three new versions of our FantaSign series. Each one showcases a different Disney character (and the old Disneyland sign is a character to me) along with the ability of the purchaser to cusomize their print of choice.

I created the “Happiest Place on Earth” after the last Disneyland sign that stood outside the park (before a new sign ordinance in Anaheim, California, decided neon was taboo and made all the businesses around Disneyland put up boring “tombstone” signs”) The original Disneyland sign is a daylight print. This print I put in the famous fireworks seen every night at the park behind the sign. FYI, the sign was purchased by actor John Stamos when it was torn down.

“Dumbo Circus” takes the loveable Dumbo and give him his own circus. I used a circus tent illustration as the basis for the main part of the sign along with common Dumbo typefaces to create the print.

“Goofy Baseball” is based on the famous Wrigley Field sign. Mixing both old and new I wanted to create a traditional baseball scoreboard with a modern look of a baseball stadium.

To purchase one of these prints please visit the DisneyShopping.com site.