Sign Painters
"A lovely paean to a vanishing art... Ms. Levine and Mr. Macon have hopscotched the country, interviewing many of the best remaining old-school sign painters and printing their best work... This book, with an introduction by the artist Ed Ruscha, is a funky and necessary work of preservation." -- New York Times"With hand-painted signs rapidly going the way of the film camera, documentarians Levine and Macon offer a welcome look at some of the remaining artists and their work, which adorns storefronts, walls and billboards. New Yorker Stephen Powers began as a graffiti artist; Las Vegas painters Mark and Rosie Oatis met in sign school; Ernie Gosnell, in Seattle, learned the trade as a teen from a sign-painting lady wrestler who "tattooed a little bit on the side." It's a toss-up as to what's better - these characters or their art." -- New York Post"This is not only a wonderful book, a delight to take in, rich and telling in its details and a visual pleasure with its gorgeous photography. It's an important book that captures a largely untold story." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"Sign Painters is a great source of inspiration about this often-overlooked industry, and a good reminder to pay a little extra attention while out in the city, on the highway, or wherever. Beautiful hand-painted signs are everywhere." -- Smithsonian.com"Full of stunning full-color shots of finished signs and works-in-progress of folks from San Francisco and Iowa City to Mazeppa and Boston. Even artist Ed Ruscha gets in on the action." -- Fast Company"Every now and again, a book comes my way on a topic that is utterly and completely unexpected. Faythe Levine and Sam Macon's Sign Painters is the sort of artistic celebration that should be commonplace on the shelves.this is graphic design at its best; these signs command attention, enliven the landscape, and bring customers in... good stuff, and damned inspiring." -- Bookslut"As lovingly hand made as the signs it celebrates... What comes across clearly is the respect for good work, letter by letter, that helps their clients' businesses succeed. This book captures the renaissance of the sign painter." --- Juxtapoz"Artist Clark Byers may not be a household name, but if you've lived or traveled in the southeast U.S., you're probably familiar with his work. Byers, whose death in 2004 was commemorated with an obituary in the New York Times, painted the advertising slogan, "See Rock City," on the roofs of more than 900 barns from the late 1930s until the 1960s. Byers' and other artists' signs inspired filmmakers Sam Macon and Faythe Levine's great new book, Sign Painters, an homage to the craft and its craftsmen (and a great gift for the Americana-lover on your holiday shopping list)." -- Reader's Digest