Elaine's Sign

Elaine's Sewing Room, acrylic on board, approx. 11x30", 2010
(Our arts & craft booth snapshot - 2010)

I had the recent pleasure of producing a custom sign for a local artisan in Prattville, AL. During an arts and craft show in October, a gentleman approached me and wanted to know if I could do a customized antiqued sign, similar to the John Deere sign shown in the booth snapshot above. I pulled a couple scraps of wood from our property and put together the Elaine's Sewing Room sign. My client, John, told me I was free to make it as I pleased so long as it had "Elaine's Sewing Room" on it. I love that kind of freedom and confidence from a client. In the end, the wife and I really loved the way it looked. About 10 days later, my wife and I were at a sewing supply store ourselves looking at sewing machines when the employee at the counter said that she recognized my name. John had been there just hours earlier and mentioned to the employees that he had just commissioned a local artist to do a special sign for his wife's sewing room. He even had the sign in his car and showed the staff the actually sign. It made me feel good to know that my client loved his sign enough to keep it in his car for show & tell - 10 days after I gave it to him! Very funny. Happy New Year - Jared

Chaplin, the Funny Man

Silver Screens & Tarnished Hearts, acrylic on board, 24x24", 2010 $1200
(free shipping)

This is the newest addition to my celebrity portraits at the Chop House. I will be delivering it with Conan's portrait - which I think is very appropriate. I loved the idea of incorporating elements of the silent picture screen into this vintage portrait. The script and pin-striping were done in platinum tined metallic paint, chased over with a dirty antique glaze for an added aging effect. I was drawn to this image of Chaplin because if the irony elicited by the photo; a comedian in pain. This led me to the text which is an additional pun and also adds to the "vintage" redundancy throughout the piece as a whole. Also, during the painting process I noticed that I overlooked one small drip that occurred in the corner of his left eye. You can see this serendipitous drip better by clicking on the image to enlarge it slightly. Normally I would paint over such an error but I thought it was too a propo. Make it yours today - click below to purchase. FREE SHIPPING! - Jared

End of Year Pillow Commissions

Customized pillows - acrylic on raw linen, 2010

Here are a few examples of my pillow commissions of recent. My wife will take the painted fronts (shown above) and turn them into pillows. They look awesome! Thought y'all would like to see these before the new year. These pillows look great in any contemporary living room setting. Contact me for prices if you're interested. - Jared

The 3 Egos

The Lover, The Lethargic & The Lunatic, acrylic on MDF, 24x12" (3 - 8x12"vignettes)$500

(scroll below to purchase)

There are intended to be studies for a particular vintage sign I have planned soon. I have done several dog paintings in the recent past, indeed they are beginning to define my art, and I thought I'd show you these quick sketches. If any of you have pets at home you know how temperamental they can be sometimes. My wife and I have two cats and they speak as clearly to us as any one else we know. Once you pick up on their ticks and traits, it's pretty hard not to understand what it is they are trying to communicate, as seen in the paintings above. If you'd like to have a closer look at each sketch, visit my Art Scuttlebutt page. Enjoy - Jared

Hitchcock Makes it to the Chophouse

Alfred Hitchcock, acrylic on panel, 24x24" SOLD

Here's another American icon for the Chop House wall. The talk about these portraits is growing all the time. Locals in Montgomery have fun tossing their 2 cents around about whomever is featured on any given week. I recently sold my Audrey Hepburn (I was very tempted to keep her to myself). This allowed for a couple more pieces to be placed on the wall. The crow's eye has iridescent paint in it and will glow in the dark; a detail that the restaurant staff was glad that I shared. I hope that you enjoy and if you are ever in Montgomery, stop by The Chop House and tell Patrick that Jared sent you. - Jared

The Shakey Hand Tattoo Parlor

Shakey Hand Tattoo Parlor sign, approx. 20x4" SOLD

This sign is painted on reclaimed pressure-treated wood. It is extremely sturdy and would make a great defensive implement next to any one's bed. Humor is always a nice addition to any piece of art and I had fun thinking of the "worst branding for a tattoo parlor". Of course there are many other names I may paint in the future, but this one made me laugh right when I thought of it. Everything is hand painted and distressed. As seen in the photo, screw-eyes are inserted in the top to allow for hanging. This item will be shipped with fine grade hemp rope, ready to hang. Stay tuned for more parlor names. Enjoy - Jared

War Eagle!!!!!!!

War Eagle sign, approx. 20x4", SOLD
(scroll below to purchase)

Here's a sign just in time for the greatest season of the year - Auburn football. I honestly think that I love Auburn football more than the Christmas season, though Santa pulls a very close second. At least my power bill doesn't spike by $200 during the football season. This sign was painted on reclaimed pressure treated wood. The weathering seen on the surface was largely done by hand, though I did leave the finished product outside for a while. I drilled two holes in the top corners for your choice of hanging material. I've used fine hemp rope in the past and it goes very well with the aged nature of the artwork. This would look absolutely awesome above a front door walkway or porch. Enjoy - Jared

My Own Mercantile Pillows

LEDBTR lobster, painted pillow, approx 14x14", $30 (purchase below)

For the last few years, I've nearly abandoned the use of canvas in my art completely. Thus, small mounds of canvas lye dormant on my studio floor, in cabinets, and tucked away in corners. Once again I turned to Restoration Hardware to dig for ideas and saw these faux-mercantile throw pillows. I decided to make my own in the same vane.

I took raw canvas and taped it to the studio wall. Next I mixed up a wash of acrylic paint - steamed milk and a touch of medium gray. After a couple coats of this mixture, I let it dry and then used a latex taupe hue to paint the lettering and logo. The taupe came from the hardware store's miss-matched paints in the clearance aisle. I think I got a quart for $1 - Gotta love that!!

I placed a few letter stencils on the pillow and arranged them until I was satisfied with the arch, leaving plenty of room to paint the lobster logo. I liked the idea of the letters closely approaching the edge of the pillow, perhaps even being cut short in the sewing. However in the end everything remained completely visible.

If you like relaxing on the sofa and rubbing your face on a 220 grade pillow surface, possibly removing half your 5 o'clock shadow in the process, then this material is for you. However, I have invested a little money in softer, more appropriate fabrics which make the texture of the pillow much more pleasurable. If you'd like to have a custom pillow made just contact me. Hope you enjoy - Jared

Farm Fresh Signage

Assorted Signage
Large = 4x20" $20 Small = 4x10" $15 , Scroll down to purchase a set

I have been accumulating lots of scrap wood over the last several months and have tried to keep my eyes open for a good use for them. Last month I was flipping through our Pottery Barn catalog and noticed this style of signage hanging in the background of one of the featured rooms. BINGO! That was the perfect use for these scraps. They are also a great platform for me to experiment with new techniques for distressing and aging my artworks.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these ready-to-hang signs, see below. Though the originals for this image have already been snatched up, I have plenty more scrap wood to reproduce each one. The great thing about this is that no 2 signs will ever be exactly the same. You may request your own custom wording as well. Just click below or contact email me HERE. Enjoy - Jared

Pick A Produce

Raspberries $20.00 Blackberries $20.00 Bananas $20.00 Mango $15.00 Peach $15.00 Custom Word $20.00

Type Custom Word here

Do-it-Myself Restoration Hardware

Before image

Finished Product

Details of clock frame

This was my relaxation for the weekend. After a hard week of work and not enough time to paint in the studio I came home on Friday and saw that I had received my Restoration Hardware catalog. I have been drawn to vintage, antique items for the last several years, namely due to my beautiful bride who has always been shrewd enough to see the value in the vintage. Often I see items that I'd love to own in these catalogs but don't have thousands to spend on a lamp! The thought that goes through my head is "I could duplicate that!" So to get the creative juices flowing and to find some solace I decided to paint my ubiquitously commercial wall clock so that it resembled the more awesome $300 wall clock in the summer catalog. I started by drawing in a few essential measurements and then based the clock in a mix of slate grey and black. The numbers were then painted in two tones and the dividing lines and typography were rendered in white charcoal. The hands of the clock were neck-tie in shape and I decided to base them in the same dark base color of the clock face. This camouflaged the hands and gave me the opportunity to used metallic paints to create a more ornate hand design. The end product is a very tromp l'eoil effect. Lastly, I aged the clock frame which was originally silver in color. Now, a $3 clock looks like a $100 design element. I hope this inspires you to make your own treasures. Enjoy - Jared