This annual event has been going for 30 years and I was asked to make a sign for the back of the stage that is known as the Acoustic Chicken Stage because the cottage owner plays an acoustic guitar and he loves to BBQ chicken. Plus a sign will designate that this particular stage features acoustic music whereas another stage at another friend's cottage on the same lake is where loud rock 'n roll takes place.
The kitchen table scene below,, shows how important it is to write out things. Spelling is wrong, of course, which would have caused no end of problems once paint was committed to the backdrop.
Initially, a Quirky B, perhaps a name-plate, was what I had in mind. I thought I could spell out Cluck or Buk Buk and leave it at that but with some input from friends and the return of the guitar which had been put to use for the Anything Goes show at Patrick John Mills Gallery, several ideas materialized.
More paint was applied to the guitar after the keys spelling Anything Goes were pried loose. The back was removed from the guitar and reinforcing bars screwed horizontally to provide rigidity and also, to provide a spot for attaching the guitar to the frame, which has reinforcing bars across the back. The sides have been left untouched.
The frame was reversed and a black board cut to fit and pressed into place. The guitar is balanced on three points in the frame and screwed in place. So yes, the back of the frame is now the front as this provides a two-inch shelf upon which the guitar sits.
The text was painted over several hours, layer upon layer. And the date was added in the lower right-hand corner. All that is left is to sign the back.
Such is art.
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