How I got started

I have nearly 30 years in the sign painting business. I have a man named Walter Baize to thank and I will always be grateful to him. In my early 20's I purchased a 1955 Chevy truck from him. At the time I did not know he was a sign painter until I walked into his garage.

  I was fascinated  with the way he used a brush to do freehand lettering. We struck up a friendship and he invited me back over to watch him paint signs as he showed me how to hold the brush, how to make certain letters an numbers, what kind of paint and what kind of brushes to use. From there, I started lettering oval and figure 8 race cars for free, just for the practice. Eventually I started charging more and more, then moved on to actual sign painting. Sign painting with a brush and paint unfortunately is a dying art with not many old sign painters left. Maybe the Rat Rod era will produce a few more.

I became interested in the history of whiskey my uncle gave me some barrel heads to use for firewood. I though it was a shame to burn the heads because they could be used for other things such as signs. After doing a little research, I discovered that my distant relatives where in the Whiskey business with Mattingly & Moore Distillery back in the late 1800's. The Bourbon is still sold today as a DBA by Heaven Hill Distillery. So, just for fun I started painting old Whiskey and bourbon logos on the barrel tops and trying to make them look old and authentic. So the signs you see today is a result of 10 years of trial and error.