Year: 2012

Ghostsigns in The Simple Things magazine

A new magazine, The Simple Things, features a great article about Ghostsigns. Written by Kirsten Elliott of Akeman Press in Bath, there are also a couple of wise words and a bunch of photos from yours truly. Regular readers may recall a couple of fascinating photos that Kirsten recently provided to this blog and there is […]

8 Sep 2012

Lyndsey Smith and the signs of Bath and Lewes

The Circulating Library sign from Bath is certainly one of the most popular and regularly photographed ghostsigns in the UK [See comments on this post for some more on this sign]. However, this is the first time I’ve seen it appear in watercolour. This painting by Lyndsey Smith was the runner up in the Bath […]

5 Sep 2012

Ghostsigns and Smiths Grand Teas in the Countryman

This photo by John Vince features in a short piece he’s written on ghostsigns for the Countryman. The sign, from Leicestershire, also features in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive and has the wonderful ‘act local’ line of “Carefully blended to suit the water of the district”. It also has a remarkably diverse set of […]

1 Sep 2012

Hamburg Alphabet by Chris Campe

Hamburg Alphabet by Chris Campe is a delightful expose of one German city’s signage and public lettering. Featuring 220 images it catalogues these examples in alphabetical order according to the word spelled on the sign. The pages are visually striking, offering both similarities and sharp contrasts between different signs. This is testimony to Campe’s work […]

29 Aug 2012

Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet in Paris, 1983

I had to share this as it is a brilliant example of the classic ‘Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet’ campaign with illustrations in the hand painted form. It was captured by Scott Phillips in Paris in 1983 and, on his blog, he describes how he was able to create this wonderful image. The original artwork for the 1932 campaign was produced by French artist A. M. […]

25 Aug 2012

Dana Forrester, ghostsigns and classic cars

Work on my book means that I haven’t been blogging as diligently as usual so this is getting back to it. Through William Stage (author of ‘Ghost Signs‘) I became acquainted with American watercolour artist Dana Forrester. Dana is an artist who uses ghostsigns in his original works, alongside a number of other artists who […]

22 Aug 2012

Cover for ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’

Here is a preview of the hand painted cover for the ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’ book. You can also see some photos and video of the work in progress on this. Sadly when I went back to see some more painting in action I was, instead, presented with the finished piece. For a glimpse […]

10 Aug 2012

Walldogs, Ghost Signs and Slappy Hooper

In 2009 the Colorado Gambler published an article by Cathleen Norman called ‘Walldogs, Ghost Signs and Slappy Hooper’. It packs a surprisingly large quantity of material about the history of painting signs on walls in the USA into a very short piece. However, the opening sentence of the main body might be one for the […]

10 Aug 2012

Creating the cover for Hand Painted Signs of Kratie

Today, after three weeks of checking back on an almost daily basis, I caught Kratie signpainter Chouk Rachana at work on the cover for my forthcoming book, ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’. It has taken a bit of back and forth to get towards a common understanding of what I’m looking for and I think […]

7 Aug 2012

Jim Power’s mosaics, a piece of New York history

‘Mosaic Man’ Jim Power profiled in this film showing his work on the Mosaic Trail, a Lower Manhattan art exhibit depicting the people and the history of the area and the city. Sadly many of his works were destroyed but he’s now on a mission to reinstate them. A bit off piste for this blog […]

6 Aug 2012

Two brilliant ghostsigns from Bath

I was recently interviewed by Kirsten Elliott of Akeman Press for an article in a forthcoming magazine launch scheduled for later this year. We’ve since been in email contact as a result of our shared interest in ghostsigns and those from Bath in particular. (Regular readers will remember my little photo essay of a visit […]

5 Aug 2012

Sample pages from ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’ book

Here are some sample pages from my forthcoming book, ‘Hand Painted Signs of Kratie’. It is a study of the hand painted form in a small provincial capital in North East Cambodia, currently my home. (Read more blog posts about hand painted signs in Cambodia.) The book is set to be about 100 pages long […]

4 Aug 2012

Mark Spurgeon’s Preserve project in ProDesign

I’ve just come across this article in ProDesign magazine which profiles Mark Spurgeon of the Preserve project in New Zealand. I’ve written about Mark’s work before and how there are parallels with my own interest in ghostsigns.  This article reinforces those similarities. You can visit Mark’s site at www.preserve.co.nz, it is a real treasure trove […]

3 Aug 2012

Perfectly preserved Coca-Cola sign revealed in restaurant renovations

This is an amazing reveal inside a restaurant in Suffolk, Virginia, showing a vintage Coca-Cola almost perfectly preserved as it would have looked when first painted. This article offers some evidence that the sign could date from the 1890s, I wonder if they’ll do something with the top portion which is presumably on the second […]

2 Aug 2012

Cities at night from space

Photographing ghostsigns and other street scenes provides insights into the culture, society and history of places around the world. Ghostsigns are more prevalent in urban areas, due to their role as industrial and economic centres. This role of cities also leads to another key feature which is lighting at night. The above video offers a […]

1 Aug 2012

The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum

Walldog is the nickname given to those that once roamed the USA painting signs and slogans on brick walls, roadside barns and any other surface capable of providing a canvass for their advertising art. The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum is a celebration of their work, located in Pontiac, Illinois, The city also houses a […]

31 Jul 2012

Eddy’s Bread ghostsign restoration in Helena

A preview of the planned restoration of this Helena ghostsign later this year with some interesting debate on preservation issues and the history of the sign itself.

30 Jul 2012

French ghostsigns blog: Les murs peints s’affichent

Les murs peints s’affichent is a blog written by Philippe Célérier on the topic of ghostsigns in France. He adds updates quite regularly and it is well worth following if you are interested in hand painted signs on buildings from this country which seems to have so many. The image above is taken from this post […]

29 Jul 2012

Los Angeles murals photographed by Ernest A. Long

Daniel Lohmann kindly shared the link to this archive of Los Angeles mural photography from Ernest A. Long. There is an introductory article on the Getty education blog and the collection contains 200 images, all taken between 1973 and 1883. Like London it seems that Los Angeles also has a proud tradition of mural art, I […]

28 Jul 2012

Signpainters of Detroit

Detroit blogger John Carlisle showcases some of the hand painted signs on walls from the motor city and meets the men who make them. It is interesting that many of them only use the signpainting to supplement their incomes or to support their other artistic endeavours. Note the slogan on the picture above, taken from […]

27 Jul 2012

More San Francisco Ghostsigns mapped

The latest research by Kasey Smith of the Perception Filter blog is now plotted on a map with images and research available by clicking on each marker. It’s building into quite a collection and shows at a local level part of my vision for a global mapping of hand painted advertising on buildings.

25 Jul 2012

Ghostsigns from Krakow in Poland

Areta Kovalska’s ‘Shadows of a Forgotten World’ blog continues to offer up excellent material from Eastern Europe. This time she has travelled to Poland and documented some of the beautiful ghostsigns of Krakow, after the previously featured examples from Lviv in Ukraine. I love the one shown above for its innovative use of the large brick […]

24 Jul 2012

Vote Against Prohibition Ghostsign in Baltimore

This is the first ever example from the modern era that I’ve come across of hand painted advertising on buildings used for political purposes. There are the ancient ghostsigns of Pompeii which I’ve written about before and also the murals of places like Nicaragua and Northern Ireland. This photo from Samuel Adam Johnson caught my eye […]

23 Jul 2012

Following Ghostsigns and a New Mailing List

I’ve just set up a new mailing list for Ghostsigns as part of the overall update to the site. You can sign up here or by entering your email address in the side panel to the right. This mailing list will be used to send out occasional emails and perhaps a newsletter in the future. […]

22 Jul 2012