One of the most enjoyable aspects of owning my shop is doing signs and graphics for myself. Not only does it showcase my skills for potential clients, but it challenges my abilities to produce images using materials and techniques that aren't used in everyday production.

These door windows are the latest example of this. My good friend Connie Deegan did the stained glass work, and I did the graphics on the centers, pulling out the stops to use a number of glass techniques, including glue-chipping, gilding with various alloys of gold leaf, along with painting, blending and stippling. The results are a striking set of windows, unlike anything else.

To see the kind of quality we do at FKS every day, have a look at www.finestkindsigns.com and see what we can do for YOUR buiness image.

Here's a new sign installed on Friday. We built two of these (installed on an existing set of brick pillars) for a resort motel near the beach. The signs are 42" x 6', made entirely of HDU and dibond laminate on an aluminum frame. They replaced carved wood signs done about fifteen years ago. The client has purchased other high-end signs before, for two restaurants, and were very pleased with our latest efforts.

Here's another picture of Mahaffeys with the new sign. I'm going to have to get back to Charm City sometime soonso I can drink here again. If you look at their site http://www.mahaffeyspub.com/ you'll see how desperately they needed a new sign.

And remember... the secret to succesful drinking is good nutrition. So while enjoying those delicious draught microbrews and Belgian ales, take a look at the menu... this place has some of the best pub food in Baltimore. Cheers...

This picture was supposed to load on the last post. Such are the vagaries of the blog site. If you are ever in the Canton section of Baltimore and find yourself developing the sort of powerful thirst that only beer can quench, this is your place. While you are at it, eat something - the food is outstanding. Tell Wayne you saw this here.

In December of 2005 I shipped this sign to a pub owner in Baltimore, Maryland. The owner didn't install the sign immediately; instead, he unpacked it and kept it in the bar for several months, where it suffered some damage. The price to ship it back to be repaired was prohibitive; consequently, it languished for over a year until last month, when I came in contact with a sign man in Maryland named Mark Kottwitz. Mark took on the task of repairing and installing the sign, and here it is at last.

I've been doing business with Bob Mercer and Bill Bertsche for years; so I was very pleased to do a new sign for their office in Old Mystic. This is a perfect example of a carved sign in the classic New England style; very traditional "tablet" design, with gold leaf on a deep green ground, framed in cottage red - nothing outrageous or unexpected, just the sort of sign that speaks of pride, quality and professionalism.
I've become quite fond of a typeface called "titus" for carved signs. It has the proportions of a classic Roman face with calligraphic details in the serifs and cross-bars that give it a warm, hand-rendered feel. It lends itself well to both hand-carving and computeried routing - the Mercer and Bertsce sign is incise hand carved, while the Weekapaug Golf Club sign is the same face, machine carved, raised with prismatic faces. Titus works equally well with in both.

It's been a while since I've written here, so I want to share a project I'm currently working on in the shop.

This is a sign for a lakefront cottage called "Windy Waters". It's hand carved in SignFoam HDU; in this picture you see it as I have just finished carving the lettering and the "fan" image. You can also see the pencilled line which shows the eventual shape of the panel, which I will cut out after the carving is complete.

This sign will also have a painted picture of a sailboat, which will go inside the circle you can see in the upper half of the sign. This is a fairly typical carved sign from my shop; to see other examples go to www.finestkindsign.com

Here's to the best-laid plans. I promised to cover a carved sign project from beginning to end; but I got real busy and plum fergot. We'll try again some othe time. In the meanwhile I've pushed a couple of other nice projects out the door, and now it's two weeks til Christmas and time to think about what the last year taughtme and what the new year will bring. Stay tuned.

Here is the finished version of the sign posted two days ago.
More of this kind of work can be seen at www.finestkindsign.com

Today I'll be carving a pair of signs for a real estate office. The artwork isn't very exciting, but I'm going to photograph the job step by step and post it here, to show you what is involved in this kind of sign.