We spent 4 very full days shooting in the greater Los Angeles area. It was obvious before we got there after we skimmed our list of contacts and leads that an entire film could be made with all the talent in that area.
Driving back from Las Vegas we talked about what we would find at our shoot the next day at
LA Trade-Tec were we were invited to the
Sign Graphics course taught by the legendary
"Doc" Guthrie. I'm going to save his stories for the film (and most likely extra features, because there were a lot of stories), but for me personally Doc was one of the most inspirational people I have ever met in my life. Watching him balance a very diverse, I'm talking age, ethnically, economic, the entire shebang, of 60+ students all tucked into 2 larges rooms with 4 levels of students ALL WORKING was a beautiful thing. Everyone should raise their glass to Doc Guthrie.
Doc Guthrie at LA Trade-Tech
Guthrie's first semester class at LA Trade-Tec
HOT TIP: All you inspiring sign painters, movie to LA, get residency, take this program before it's gone and get ready to get your butt kicked by a great teacher.
Synchronicity is no stranger in my life and working on this film it's reared it's confusing head a number of times. Through a series of events we found out that
Keith Scharwath who is a third semester Sign Graphic's student and Los Angeles based art director, designer and artist is someone I had previously worked with on a project he directed for
GOOD Magazine (and on an even stranger level his fiance,
Alissa Walker interviewed me a number of years ago about my last film
Handmade Nation).
We were able to shoot some footage of Keith at work in class and then went to his studio/shop and did a quick interview about why an established graphic designer such as himself would spend 2 years going to a trade school to learn traditional sign painting techniques. To us, the answer was obvious, but we feel as if it's the perfect way to prove that sign painting is no where near the near death many think it is.
Keith Scharwath in his studio/shop
Some of you hardcore sign writers may argue there's no place in this film for some of the people we have decided to include in this project. They aren't "real" sign painters, the feedback we have received is that they don't represent the trade. At first, I didn't understand what this criticism was about, but after investing almost two years to research and doing a lot of interviews, I now understand. What we have found very contradicting is many of you journeyman sign painters have start-up stories that mimic almost word for word the stories of these younger painters that we have found.
In Los Angeles we met up with
Marjory Garrison who's background and job is working with non-profit organizations. Marjory also works as a full time sign painter. Garrison spoke prolifically about finding old trade books, contacting the legendary masters she read about in Sign Craft and asking questions upon questions to whoever would listen. She even had a story about emailing John Downer who called to chat with her on the phone. Her self taught technique is a similar story among a younger strain of sign painters. She is learning while on the job. Marjory's style, skill and nearly booked schedule of painting signs around her neighborhood speaks loudly we believe and having her presence along with a handful of other young self-taught sign painters represents an element of the new generation of sign painting.
Marjory Garrison at home
Marjory who shares a home and studio with 3 other people one of them her husband industrial designer
Brendan Ravenhill, uses the large windows at home to practice technique, taking advantage of the space she has to work with.
On our last day of shooting we drove from Los Angeles to Ventura to meet with the west coast king of Window Splash [temporary window signage]
Nick Barber. Nick's interview just made us swell with excitement, he and every single person we had met on this trip so far had been so amazing. Barber's wealth of knolowdge, stories and passion made us feel like we were right on track gathering what we need to round out this project.
Nick Barber touching up a piece for us at a long time client of his, the local Harley Davidson dealership.
Detail of a Nick Barber window splash at a local Harley Davidson dealer. Window splash is often done in florescent paint to catch the passer-by's eye.
HOT TIP: Nick has two books he has written on the art of temporary window splash you can get from his
website.
Next on our list, drive from Los Angeles to Austin, TX to meet up with our next subjects.
