Not surprised by how Keith wants to say 'farewell' . . . but that wouldn't make the occasion any more festive for me. I believe that party calls for a 'brave face' and a few forced smiles amongst the real ones. He walked the talk and was an amazing early force - maybe an east-west connection started...

Wow . . . I'm so very sorry for your family's loss. Harry was unique to say the least. I had the pleasure of Harry pinstriping my Toyota 4-Runner in Fargo back in 1996 . . . Tramp Warner walked up to him - took a look all around the truck and said to Harry: "Very polite, Harry." When Tramp...

Well . . . except for border work by the always consistent Joe Marshall, I painted this one also in its entirety. I did this pictorial tribute to the county fair in Morrison in about 60 hours - 39 for the pictorial - 21 for that doggone 'Fair handbill' - that included brush cleanup and mixing of col...

Tony Seagull . . . Yep - just imagine if I weren't such a fashion nightmare . . .!! Hey, like I've said many times . . . if you're going to get paint on your clothes, who cares if it's pink . . . Comfy in my ability to wear it . . . and my wife doesn't seem to hate it. So there you go . . . Ever see...

Well . . . except for border work - and the wall behind the tow truck on the right - plus the pavement - I painted this one in its entirety. It was blessed, I guess (seeing as how I'm pretty happy with the results of painting my first human being - and never mind that he doesn't full resemble the mo...

I say that too now, Vance!! I can paint a picture . . . Thank you! I'm just not very fast - nor remotely close to being as skilled - as Hueg . . . But like when golfers, you play to the skills of the other golfers. If they suck, you suck, If they're good, you play better . . . Trying to emulate Hueg...

Thank you, Mark. More of a testament to Bill than to my budding skills as a pictorial painter!! Monochromatic color scheme makes it easier also . . . Painting values . . .

Thanks, Mike . . . The road has quite a history - and I know far too much of it now!! Good to have steady work, though. I saw your Teton Images at Blurb site . . . Very cool work you're doing with Photoshop. I use that a bunch for the LH murals - as you might expect. It was YOUR tutorial on keystoni...

This one has yet to be installed - but I'm on a roll . . . We're just starting number 17 now. This is a tribute to the 2 guys standing on the balcony overlooking the parade. They built the building that the frame/border was based on - Wills and Petrie. We try to give each community THEIR special sto...

Things changed beginning with this mural. No longer are we working with Bill Hueg on the murals. He started this mural (I'm not even sure what the story was here!!) but wasn't able to finish due to previous commitments. The pay schedule for the mural project got stalled due to project management and...

Telling the story of the first 'Seedling Mile' on the LH - a 10 foot wide band of concrete one mile long and placed in places along the national highway that would encourage other roads to 'connect' to it. The first Seedling Mile was in Malta, IL. This mural was installed on the side of an old churc...

Telling the story of how parades and festivals increased along the Lincoln Highway . . . This sad looking carload of parade entry winners looked somber because - as I am told by experts - the film development in old cameras required holding a pose for 10 seconds or so. So smiling got wearying after ...

I'm a little behind in this . . . and the project slowed. So I'll post a few on a slow day . . . Telling the story of Exposition Park outside of Aurora, IL (now North Aurora). As the painted copy of an early original advertisement say, Exposition Park was 'the ideal amusement park'. As the nation be...

Tony . . .

Am I Frank? Or Nancy?

I'd rather be frank - and be Frank . . . HAHAHAHHAA

Stick around for my 11:30pm show . . . I'll be here all week. Try the Veal Chops . . . and tip your waitress or waiter . . .

Take my wife, please . . .

Beta Testing on a project of this magnitude seems abit unnerving! Have you done any of the murals in any other clears to give you a comparison for standard? We trust Steve Berman, Kelly. Simple as that. We did use the old Clearstar on the first 3 we did a few years ago. But when we called to talk a...

This mural tells the story of the Van Buren sisters: www.vanburensisters.com "It was the summer of 1916. Women didn't have the right to vote, nor were they considered equals to men. But they did have the same tenacity, courage, and creativity that women have always had, regardless of the recogn...

Robare . . . Yes, there is. Clearstar and Steve Berman (from the old days of Chromatic) have created a single-part catalyzed acrylic clear (CSX5000) that we are 'beta-testing' to some degree. It's some pretty nice stuff . . . and works well over Bill's oils he uses - and the OneShot colors we use. R...

Telling the story of the 1919 Army Military Transport as we did in Dixon, IL. Here, a disgusted Lt. Col. Dwight Eisenhower directs his men to put a truck back on the road . . . Hope you like it . . . As always, I designed this - Joey Marshall engineered it - and Bill Hueg did the masterful job of pa...

Fulton, IL is on the banks of the Mississippi - and is the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway in Illinois. This 10' x 20' mural celebrates the transition from ferry crossing to vehicular crossings on the bridge into Clinton, IA . . . Hope you like it. As always, I designed this - Joey Marshall ...

Sorry . . . been too busy to keep up. This is number 8 - with 6 more to post. St. Charles features the Hotel Baker and the Arcada Theater. The Theater is right across from the mural and shown in one of the photos. The Hotel Baker is just a block away acrsoss the river. Nice town . . . a departure fr...

Once again, prayers claim victory . . . but I'd bet her cardiologist is claiming victory too!! Susie may very well go home today. Bill spoke with David this morning and he sounded upbeat and positive. Changes ahead . . . but who wouldn't? Give them time to settle in if you intend to contact them. I'...

Bill Hueg spoke with Shiloh last night and Susie Butler had a mild heart attack yesterday. She's fine - resting in the hospital now - and if you wouldn't mind keeping her - and the family - in your prayers, it would certainly not hurt . . .!! And considering the private nature of the Butler family, ...

David . . . artists oils/ Smith's Cream mix for the medium . . . clearcoat with Clearstar's new water-based (not on the market yet) clearcoat . . .

Thanks . . . Bill's execution of the designs is unreal . . . his billboard roots work well on this.

Only 33 more to go . . . sigh . . .

We're starting on a new, longer run of Lincoln Highway murals now. Bill will be here until late June now . . . Byron, IL is NOT on the LH - but was close enough to be affected by it. They have a drag strip there - so we gave them the story of the transcontinetal speed races . . . Those 'badges' were...

P.S. - Dixon has an arch that spans the street in front of this courthouse shown . . . pretty obvious that I had to use that in the design. Also required some symmetry due to the shape and the way I used it . . . We're titling all these with the town names they go in - and there's only so many ways ...

Dixon, IL . . . also the birthplace of former President Ronald Reagan . . . and soon the recipient of this newest LH mural: http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq143/shawcraft/Dixon%20mural/?albumview=slideshow http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq143/shawcraft/Dixonfinalinshop.jpg Enjoy!! Next up (l...

Mark . . . Bill is using 3 different types of pictorial oils . . . yes, the Danacolor - but also Chromatic's and Classic . . . Perhaps Danacolors only makes those now . . . Bill bought up all the pictorial oils he could long ago figuring he'd never run out . . . Unfortunately he didn't see this proj...

Mark, Brent Logan asked Bill a question about mixing his greys on one of these murals we're doing - and the answer Bill sent to Brent explains a lot about his thoughts on colors - and your comment on B/W over a sepia tone might be best addressed by reading Bill's thoughts: ************* Jay mentione...

My pleasure, Jeffrey P. - I told Bill the reason I've passed on so much work to him over the years is to pay him back for the momentary hesitation and lump in his gut when he pulled into Belvidere and saw his wall with no panels on it . . . Can you imagine? When can I quit paying him back for that? ...

Not much to add . . . this one speaks to the Good Roads Movement . . . and this guy had his own rogue idea of how to smooth a road . . .!! Slideshow: http://s442.photobucket.com/albums/qq143/shawcraft/Lincoln%20Highway%20murals/Genoa%20slideshow/?albumview=slideshow http://i442.photobucket.com/album...