Have you ever met an archetype? Someone who just embodies a time and place? Claudia Michler and I spent a week learning the basics of hand lettering and sign painting from such an archetype: the Midwest Wildman, Master of His Craft: Mike Meyer of Mazeppa, Minnesota (population 800).
Smelling of paint thinner and Swisher Sweets, Mike Meyer’s studio was covered from ceiling to floor with hand painted signs that he had made and collected. As the week went on, the collection was increasingly inspirational as we learned to paint in block and casual scripts and practiced the finer points of beveling and shadowing.
Mazeppa was quite the change from our green, plant filled life of Lexington, Kentucky. The blizzards and near constant snowfall covered any signs of vegetation and to compound our glaringly non-green trip, our caterer, Ruth, had a No Vegetables Guarantee in her sloppy joes. However, we are very happy to bring to Kentucky what we’ve learned from Mike and Mazeppa -- Be on the lookout for more hand-painted signs at Michlers!
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