Blue Ridge Christian Academy

Within the state of South Carolina, I find myself in the north western area and at the foot of the mountains.

Tigerville is the address here, and the k-12 school rests within many open acres of farmland. The property is gated and isolated from other homes that might be nearby. Some houses are visible in the mountains that set the backdrop of the school gymnasium. The gym is the canvas for me this time rather than a barn, and 2 sections in particular on the outside walls are my canvas.

The artwork here is not visible until you take a stroll to the soccer and baseball fields, but the building acts as an overlook to the park-like venues below. Several cold days kicked off the painting, but today was most pleasant and much work was completed on the shield panel. I hope to have the entire project including the interior paintings behind the hoops completed by the weekend. A festival will be held here on Saturday, and I am to give a few speeches on my work.

Prospect, Pa American Barn

It was a warm 5 days in Prospect, Pennslvania while painting the white barn- the Colteryahn barn that is. The red white and blue colors are a cant miss while driving north on 528. The flag may be one of my biggest creations yet, its lentgh is just shy of 30'. The old barn siding was tough to work on, it had many knotholes and large cracks from being in the elements all of these years. I painted 2 coats of Duration white (Sherwin Williams) before the colors were applied, and that helped fill the natural voids in the wood and made the artwork itself a little easier.

Northern Ohio Barn Painting

The last 10 days or so were crazy for an outdoor painter. I began the roadtrip in Westlake, Ohio as a speaker at the Library. I can remember the Ohio Bicentennial days were busy with such requests, and these days most groups still want to hear about that project (88+ barns in every county in Ohio). Quite a lightning storm came through the area as I was headed back to my camper parked at the barn in Norton, Ohio. I should have known this was a sign of things to come, at least as far as wet weather.

I started the "Buy Local" barn painting a bit later and ran into rain issues for sure. It was enought to mess up the paint job, so I had to head over to Sherwin Williams along with an old door taken off the barn so they could come up with a paint to match and cover up the mess.

I pretty much had 2 days of no work because of the weather. I was glad there was a cinema not too far away, but better yet a Red Box was literally 1 mile down the road. During the downtime I watched "Super 8" (not bad), the new X men flick(pretty good), I rented "The American" (not good) "True Grit"(great acting, but not a winner for me) and even "Just Go With It" (not bad). Maybe I should blog about movies and be the barn critic. But this tells you the kind of time I had on my hands.

On a Saturday it finally was a great day to paint. I only worked till around noon however because I had a date with some friends and my wife, Toby Mac was in the area and was the last of the 4 day Alive concert  at Atwood Lake near Mineral City (Oh).

Anyway back to some barn painting...

The Mellow Mushroom; Gatlinburg, TN

My drive from Hopkinsville KY to Gatlinburg TN took around 5 hours and was a windy one. The job was in the heart of touristville, and a new restaurant in the making called the Mellow Mushroom. The job called for an old time look, or as called a dry brush. The goal was to make the painting look aged, so I started in on the wall that was installed by the contractors on site. The wall is about 65' long and is part of a dining section for the guests to enjoy some of the worlds best pizza. It took me about 4 days to finish, but the time spent was well worth it. Everyone seemed pleased with the result, and one of the owners of the Mellow Mushroom said it exceeded his expectations. This particular pizza chain is expanding and it is my understanding they are set to open 27 new locations this year. I hope I can be part of a few more as they concentrate heavily on art and the setting of each individual site.

Hopkinsville, KY Barn painting

While the trip to Hopkinsville Kentuckey was a long one, it was enjoyable. It was my first time to travel through Louiville and I was able to see Slugger field all lit up for a baseball game, and the stadium where the cardinals play college football. From the highway the city was stunning.

I arrived at the New Work Fellowship Church in Hopkinsville Kentuckey (www.newworkfellowship.com) and found a solid barn ready for a sign. The barn faces west and is visible from the 68 by-pass. It was very windy weather, but wow it was like summer! I was able to paint well into the night and gave up around 12:30 am so I could take advantage. The barn was painted with a new basecoat and the artwork was finished on a Sunday morning before the first services began at the church.

As a side note, this is the first time painting a barn that I almost stepped on a snake. It startled me for sure, but after a few moments I calmed down and we sized each other up.

I was thinking I did not want to deal with him later, so I grabbed one of my painter extension poles out of the truck, got a hold of the snake in the mid section and catapolted the thing out into the feild. It was a sight to see it rotate through the air alright.

Meanwhile the service at the Hopkinsville New Work Fellowship Church was great. They have a real talented group of praise and worship singers and it felt a bit like a christian music concert. One singer in particular was a real treat and I would guess could sell some records on his own.

Up next: Gatlinburg TN