New hand painted sign painting on paper - 'Curly Fries'

My work with carnival food signs continue with “Curly Fries”
18.75 x 26.5”, acrylic and enamel paint on printmaking paper.

Inspired by similar signage seen at the Minnesota State Fair 2021.
Additional signage from this series can be viewed on my FLickr web page

New sign painting on a scrap piece of wood. Liquor/Clown

‘Liquor/Clown Sign’, 11.75 x 25”, enamel and acrylic paint on 3/4” mdf
Inspired by the Circus Liquor store in North Hollywood, California.

All signs for sale, pick a link to connect! https://www.thewonderfulworldof.com/links
And as always…. thanks for the support!

New work - Fairground food signs on printmaking paper

New sign painting on Rives BFK.
”Soft and Fresh Pretzels” 18.75 x 26.25” Acrylic, enamel, and latex paint on paper.

The fairground food signage continues… next up? French fries! … (I think)

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

Snow Cones, 18.75 x 26.25”, enamel and acrylic paint on Rives printmaking paper.

The fairground food signs continue! This particular piece was a bit tricky because of the color transition. Most snow cones are two to three colors but for this I decided to go with the whole spectrum. The outline was a big help because I could hide the paint runoff. It gave me some space..
Yellow and purple are so transparent it took awhile to build up the colors but in the end their misgivings helped add to the rawness of the work. Plus, I don’t see the point in making things too clean. I guess that is a reaction to when I used to work for Takashi Murakami.

To view more samples of my sign painting please go to my Flickr Page
Signs and prints available on my Saatchi Art page or contact me direct.

Now based in Minneapolis, MN… if your interested in sign painting for your business or home then please click on the sign painting link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

New hand painted sign on printing paper.

“Pop Corn” enamel, acrylic, and latex paint, 18.75 x 26.25” 2021
This sign is a bit of an oddball in that there are stripes and such, but it just felt appropriate. Perhaps when I get the whole series done it won’t look so different.

If you didn’t know:
“Popcorn (popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names are also used to refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the seed's hard, starchy shell endosperm with 14–20% moisture, which turns to steam as the kernel is heated. Pressure from the steam continues to build until the hull ruptures, allowing the kernel to forcefully expand, from 20 to 50 times its original size, and then cool.”

If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!

New work - Fairground food signs on paper

New hand painted sign on paper.

“Ice Cold Drinks” enamel and latex paint, 18.75 x 26.25” 2021

This piece is sporting the Icy caps to help accentuate the cold. I’m probably going to do those again when I get to snow cones. This one is obviously text only but I might do another one down the road with a cup + straw in it. Soda, orange, and grape drink are the first to come to mind.

If your interested in sign painting for your business or home then check out the link above!

Discovered long lost article about my grandfather, James F. O'Brien.

Strange days… so I was contacted by a gentleman recently by the name of Steve Carlton. Apparently he was a friend of my father, James Terence O’Brien, and they go way back to the 1950’s when they met in high school. Steve reached out to me because he had an old scrapbook that he wanted to give me that had some photos and articles about my late father. He told me that my dad used to stay with his grandparents in Minneapolis, MN when he was performing at the Gay 90’s (a strip bar/night club). Terry talked about this period of his life in his book ‘Close but no cigar - A street urchins tale’

In the scrapbook there was an article about my grandfather that I had never seen before. My grandfather, James F. O’Brien, was a musician and composer. I didn’t really know him… he died when I was young. But I was told that he played with a lot of hot musicians back in the day. This article gave me a peek as to who he was. It might have been written in the late 50’s.

“Music and the man who makes it
There’s more to music than playing an instrument. When you have that extra talent for arranging you’re a key man in any orchestra. Maybe that’s why James F. O’Brien has been “the man behind the man” for some of the very best. Jim started out with the Durfee High School band as a trumpeter but soon found a steady job (once a week) playing piano at the Grace Hathaway Lewis dance studio. With his indoctrination O’Brien went on to play with Larry Gadsby on New England tours. Gadsby in those days had a show band and played theaters as well. Before long O’Brien was writing musical arrangements for various vaudeville acts. Working out of Boston he played for leaders Tony Bruno, Phil Saltman, and several others. Few people do what they like… to work at in military service but the Navy used Jim O’Brien’s talent to the fullest, making him the bandleader at Pier 92, …. a busy spot in ‘44 and ‘45.
Discharged in 1946, he spent a year in Gotham and arranged for Count Basie and other name bands. In recent years he had…..”

I can’t really read the right side but hopefully I can remove the tape when it is given to me and see the rest of the story! I’ll update this blog post when I do!

Quarantined NYC: New paintings at the studio

I ran out of scrap wood so now I am painting on scrap pieces of foam core. 4 x 3” each. Enamel paint. I am keeping this work loose, spontaneous; not sure what I will do with it.
I was interested in classic circus sideshow imagery, the colors and shapes. These pieces all might ultimately be parts of a whole, like Vultron. But I’m not sure yet. Did I mention I like swirls?

Quarantined NYC: Sign painting at the studio

New signage painted on a scrap piece of plywood.
Inspired by text found on a classic Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus poster… featuring a tiger!!

Quarantined NYC: Sign painting at the studio!

New hand painted sign, ‘Tastes Great,’ is inspired by classic, ice cream cone packaging.

Fun Imagery from the Circus Archives

SIgn painting on the side of a circus truck.
King Bros Three Ring Circus - The Beautiful Show!

Fun imagery from the circus archives

Biller Bros Circus - sign painting on the side of a truck.
Big 3 Ring Wild Animal

Fun imagery from the circus archives

Cristiani - Wallace Bros Circus. ‘Every Act a Feature’

Sign painting and the circus arts

Some fun signage on the side of a truck rig from the Hoxie Bros Circus.
“1 Day Only!”

Fun imagery from the circus archives

Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey - Big Double Menagerie