what I'm working on now

It's almost April 2026 and I have a long waiting list for signs! 

My next batch of signs will include Watmough Bay Farm, Indigo Moon Farm, Paper Scissors, a driveway sign, 2 more for the LIFE garden, a new secret shop in town, and re-painting the PSOR pencil, T&D farm and the Lopez Clinic. Right now, I'm replacing all 31 signs from the Vitaparcours/LIFE trail. You might remember this, originally installed around 2009. They are worn out, broken and missing. Steve Heller commissioned me to do this job, lovely man that he was. He saw these courses in Europe, but I think it is the only Vitaparcours with hand-painted signs.

I'm also a professional bookbinder and gardener who loves to hike and cook and sleep, not to mention making my own art and dealing with my family, so I'm really struggling with time management these days!

Peace and love to all.

for george

 This is not a sign but it is a painting commission, for my friend George.

imagine peace

 

I've made two sets of these now, and one set was just installed so I don't have an 'in place' photo yet. I love doing 'non-commercial' signs.

sally's garden

 

Lopez Grange

 

sign recycling

This beloved remnant of my time in La Conner became a sandwich board for my current studio.
Cutting it in half did make me cry! Book Arts La Conner was just one fabulous undertaking closed by the pandemic. My new one has a chalkboard section for my weird workshops.

 

promoting myself, 2025 Chimera Gallery show

 

address signs

 

LIFE garden signs

 The LIFE garden is a farm-to-cafeteria program at the Lopez public school. It's really amazing, with 4 hoophouses, a classroom, and dedicated cooks in the kitchen. 

As a personal side note, I have been very disappointed to learn about its lack of funding! The passionate teachers are spending their weekends doing fundraising events for small change. COME ON PEOPLE! This is one antidote to NO KINGS. Lopez is full of nice, wealthy people paying lip-service to sustainable agriculture. Why is this program struggling? 

BBear's crazy clock

 This is one I made for myself and my new house on Lopez! It is almost ALWAYS set to CLOSED or 'hermit-ing.'

Lopez bicycle map

 My signs now reach from the northend to the southend! This is an (somewhat futile) attempt to keep our bicycle tourists in good behavior, right as you come off the ferry. It was commissioned by our chamber of commerce and it measures 4 x 4 feet. 

David's BBQ

 

Pyrokinetic Glass

 

Lopez Children's Center 2023

 

Lopez Community Center signs 2023

Returning to signpainting and Lopez...

My first job while I was moving back to the bus was this huge one for LCCA. 
 

the Barbecue

This isn't technically painting, but I have had fun doing a series of blackboards for David Z's barbecue business (where I also happen to be his only employee). 

The tricky thing about working with chalk: there is no sketch or layout to follow, and the slightest touch smears or erases it. 

Still, the colors are great and it's a good layout/lettering challenge. 

We are opening in October, but I have already made this for the road; I am in love with this sandwich board! 

 

The Path of Tranquility

 Originally established around 2007, I made two signs for this greenspace in Lopez Village; one at each end of the trail. One sign has long ago disappeared and this one was attached to a fully rotted stump. 

Weirdly, in 2023 I moved into a house whose entrance shares the beginning of this path. I have been working on some signs since then.... 

This is the old OG sign, 2007.

I added these last year near my house to direct people away from my gate.

Here is the new one! I love it. 

Northsea Apothecary

Last winter I made a bunch of awesome new signs for Callie. I did not paint the kelp/rose hips on this one, just the lettering. I'm not sure who to credit for the awesome part...

 But I had a blast painting this sandwich board, and you can feel it, can't you? I was snowed in for a few days.

Lopez Center for Community and the Arts

 I lived in La Conner from 2017-2023 so there is a bit of a break in the signpainting, aside from making my own signs for Book Arts La Conner.

These were made just over a year ago, when I was beginning to move back to the island.

two more from the archives

 

My first sign after moving to La Conner in 2017; the business name later changed to Book Arts - La Conner; then the pandemic shut me down 2 years into my project. I loved painting this sign stand and it is still there on Morris Street, empty and sad, as you first drive into town from the roundabout (I took the sign with me). 

I was able to live in this house, have a small gallery, represent over 20 artists and also offer a small classroom space where I taught beginning Book Arts and block printing. I am still trying to get going again.

I tried advertising my skills in the valley, but this was my only job, a drag-racing car in a Burlington garage. It was interesting, but enamel paints are very hard to work with!

Lopez Historical Museum

 

I'm not going to lie, I am getting better and better at this signpainting gig.

This was a pandemic job; the almost full sheets of plywood barely fit into my tiny La Conner studio! But I was happy to have it.