Oh boy oh boy this was an exciting project … because I have an excuse to visit my friend's bar and sample his incredible selection of beer! Hollywood Gardens is a bar that has been the cornerstone of this Rochester community for many years. Recently it exchanged hands from father to son. Frank is now in charge and is really made the space his own. An avid beer lover, music connoisseur and all round great guy, who loves being with people, this is sure to be an incredible space. He is a friend originating from our mutual love of bike riding. When he asked me to work on these signs for him I was happy to be part of his creation of the bar, but I secretly was excited to get to come up and visit to sample his beer!
Frank asked for two signs. The first will be his new logo; it will go behind the bar. Hollywood Gardens has 12 beers on tap plus there is a hall with a wall lined with coolers, called the "Beer Cave." It is filled with a huge selection of over 300 bottled beers! This hallway needed a new sign too. Frank wanted something warmer than the neon sign that currently gives directions to the "Beer Cave." Frank had already designed a logo for behind the bar so I just needed to blow that up to size. Then I had to create, mostly following the old sign, a new beer cave sign. I liked the old sign and its basic design. The directions have to be clear and easy to understand. I am going to put a few either cut lengthwise beer bottles on the sign or a mosaic of beer bottles as a central point.
One of the cool to this job is that Lee and I are working on creating a frame that will back light the sign. I have wanted to have a design to make framed mosaics to offer as an option for potential customers. Lee has be researching LED light strips, framing options and how to support the mosaic artwork. Hopefully, by the end of this project will have a template that will be easy to reproduce!
More, more, more good stuff!
We are creating an amazing frame and lighting for the signs. They are going to be amazing. Back lite with energy saving LEDs, a diffuser to spread the light, a beautiful piece of art, framed by an oak frame hung behind one of the best bars I know!
http://happybike.smugmug.com/Art/Mosaics/Framed-Mosaics/12017484_hgkkY#862566720_Hvb9v
7-16-10
Little lag in information, but I have been busy working on multiple mosaics!
The sign with the Hollywood logo is 36" by 30" and is laid out as you can see above behind the plexi-glass. The biggest challenge with this particular mosaic is the thin lines running through the circle. I spent a great deal of time with tweezers and LITTLE pink pieces of glass creating the lines and cross hatching. Filling the space in between with the brown glass was micro glass work also!
Here is it while during this process…
The rest of the sign went together quickly and I am really happy with the results!
The Beer Cave sign was basically laid out, but colors and any "extras" were still up in the air. Frank is great to work with; I run everything by him but he mostly wants to allow me to make the decisions. He wanted a fun sign but I wanted it to be clear and not too crowded. Frank provided the lengthwise cut beer bottles for the beer cave sign. He went to some local places in the Beaver area and finally found a man who took the project on as more of a challenge than any thing else! Cutting a bottle this way is extremely difficult because the glass wants to fracture and break. Frank delivered them ceremoniously in Philly cream cheese boxes! We collaborated back and forth on color and placement. I really like a blue background and the arrow in red.
Because I have never lit a mosaic up with LEDs in a "box" frame, I was not sure how I would like them to be grouted. The choices are liquid acrylic or traditional grout. To try out both ways, I made up some sample pieces to show as examples of what the diferences would be between the two method. I will post them once they are done. 🙂
Here is the beer cave sign as it stands today…
The Hollywood signs are all mosaiced up and awaiting their frames.
