James Ashby & Sons, Union Street, SE1 Rachel at Jerwood Space recently told me that the building at 195-205 Union Street is currently awaiting final confirmation of its demolition and development. It may not be long before the building and its little piece of ghost sign history is lost forever so I got down there …
Black & white piece featuring traditional French shop fronts One of the best things that has happened since setting up this blog is people sending me Ghost Sign related materials from around the world. The most interesting of these are when the signs have been used as a springboard for artistic and other creative activities. …
I’ve written lots about Colossal Media in the past but a visit to their website today revealed a whole load of new content including lots of videos, mainly time-lapses of their work being painted but also this new promotional trailer. Although it features some of their most recent work I still think the old one is …
Photo by Fin Fahey I saw the above headline come through on my RSS feed from Flickr and I was very excited to see the news from Fin Fahey that the classic Boyd Pianos sign has returned after being covered for some time. Perhaps something similar might happen to the old Redferns double-bill in Wandsworth …
Shop window name painter Originally uploaded by Apotheker Nice picture here from a set of Apotheker in Amsterdam showing a window painter at work. Notice how he has masked off the letter heights. The full text is going to be ‘Bevlogen’ so I don’t know what the two little bits of masking at the end …
For my birthday earlier this week my girlfriend bought me a limited edition print from north London artist Stuart Free. It is a painting depicting the distinctive Dononvan Bros shopfront in Spitalfields which has always been one of my favourite sites in London. Stuart clearly produced this painting before the sign was recently touched up …
Some time ago Rosemary tipped me off about this well preserved Hovis sign just off Green Lanes in Harringey which I’ve now got round to photographing. It is an excellent example, well preserved, and strikingly similar to the one in Islington (see below) in terms of the logo and design. However, the slogans differ, this …
Looks like the hearing was a success…depending on your stance regarding protection…
I’ve just recently returned from five weeks in the south of France, hence the lack of Ghost Sign news since late June. It looks like Frank Jump was also doing something similar recently and details of my trip last year are here. Just before I left Caroline tipped me off about a Ghost Signs ‘convention’ …
Listen here. If you’re not familiar with the show it features lots of good music but also has a regular slot where you can call in with something ‘mysterious’ you’ve spotted around London and other listeners then phone in to help unravel the mystery. A couple of weeks ago they were talking about the Herbrand …