Loving Local Landmarks

About 3 years ago while working in my current position as a sign artist for Trader Joe's I was given a fantastic opportunity. My boss or "Captain" allowed me the freedom to pick and choose local landmark buildings to illustrate and use as decor in our store as the entire chain of Trader Joe's stores was moving from a tropical, Hawaiian based theme to a neighborhood theme. Fairfield and Bridgeport areas were the main focus for our new look. Was I ever excited! Since I grew up in Fairfield there were many iconic points of interest that I could not wait to paint. As usual for a Trader Joe's artist though, there was minimal time to draw, cut and paint each piece.

Here, the very first one painted is Fairfield Center's Gazebo. To give a sense of scale, I decided I needed to hold my buildings one by one. In my possession now as we expand into adjacent space, I am not exactly sure of their future. Donate? Make my basement a Fairfield Museum?

Fairfield's Metro North Train Station with a bench added after the fact...

 The Community Theatre...how could we forget all the years we hung out in and around this landmark!

Moving towards Bridgeport with sights set high, I took a deep breath and did my best (again, in a very short time frame) to depict the historical Barnum Museum! This was accompanied by a Ringmaster holding balloons, Tom Thumb & Lavina Warren and various other hand painted decor.

This is the Barnum Museum today. Trying to capture the exact view of the building this weekend without the mini version on hand was fun! A trip to downtown Bridgeport to photograph all the beautiful architecture was quite a treat. My next post will focus completely on that trip.

And here I sit on the front steps of my home with my home cut out in hand. Home Sweet Home!

To sum up this post, I want to thank my old boss John for giving me the opportunity to paint these buildings and much, much more to decorate my place of employment! As we now progress into the expanded space little if any of my artwork will adorn the walls. New thoughts, new management and new focus.... hmmm, sounds like a good idea. 

See sidebar for more of my Trader Joe's work!