4 Signs

Creating these little 6″x6″ cherry wood veneer panels gave vent to my inner sign painter. It was only after I’d painted each that it seemed a good idea to bring them together into one 12″sq work. The result seems to pose some questions: Is this succession of weather-worn signs just a visual report of what you might see driving down a particular road at the edge of town? Or, collected together in this specific order, do these signs take on cryptic meanings of their own?

Each of these signs was, at some time, designed by a person engaged in the same advertising design business I’m in. Varying degrees of skill went into each but all to the same end: to communicate a simple message quickly. What interests me in these old signs is how that message changes as the sign itself ages. Each is an artifact of their time. Each “speaks” with the visual language of their day. As the signs age, how does the visual “accent” of that time carry its intended message into the present? As each sign ages, does it seem to become quaint or nostalgic or just out of fashion and ugly? And then, when images of these signs are recreated in a small work of art, are we seeing them in a different way altogether again? This can lead to an esoteric discussion on popular culture and the age-old questions around “what is art?” This, really, is beyond my scope and interest here.

But it does point to the fun I’ve had making these little jewels and the enjoyment I hope you get out of viewing them.