My favorite kind of sign

Signs are most often used as sales tool. Some inform or direct. Others can warn of danger. These are all cool and can be done in a creative fashion. But my favorite kind of sign doesn't do any of these things.

My favorite kind of sign is designed to story tell and entertain - nothing more. These kinds of projects offer the greatest opportunity to be creative. The sign I posted yesterday was pretty funky and over the top without a doubt. Today I get to share one that is even more fun and it's just for entertainment. It will act as the punch line to yesterday's project.

Today's project will be hung inside Cookie's fast food eating establishment in the food service area. 

-grampa dan

Now we are cookin !

With a good sized crew on the go and projects still in the design phase it isn't often I can see a project all the way through personally but on occasion it does happen. The sign for Cookie's Galley was such a project (for the most part). The design was done well over a year and a half ago. I sculpted Cookie at last year's Sculpture Magic Workshop (a year ago) as my demonstration piece. I designed and routed the sign base over a month ago and mounted the bust to it a short while later. Some of our painting crew did the base coats of paint and the brown glaze but I reserved the rest of the project for myself. Yesterday, at last, I squeezed in the time to do the last of the painting to finish off the project.

The finished sign makes me grin. It's more than a little (make that a LOT) over the top - as every theme park sign should be.

I hope it brings a smile to the face of everyone who sees it and adds to the enjoyment of the experience at Skallywag Bay Adventure Park.

-grampa dan

Neigh - a pirate horse!

It's huge fun to see just how far we can push the theme with endless visual gags. Pirates would have a pirate horse of course and we would think that every cliche in the book would apply. So why not a peg ;eg and a pirate patch on his eye. All done in sculpted concrete to easily withstand anything that the guests in the park may dish out.

The sturdy structural frame was filled out with a welded pencil rod armature. The cew then tied on the diamind lath. Today it was time for the sculpted fiberglass reinforced concrete. First a rough coat of our magic mix is troweled on - no easy task, espeially on the upside down bits.

This cement mud is allowed to set just the right amount of time before it is ready to carve. The crew must work quickly, at the same speed and in the same order at which the mud was applied.

The end product is one delightful horse complete with eye patch and peg leg - pulling a rowboat wagon.

-grampa dan