STOREFRONTS AND WALLS: ART GALLERIES FOR SIGN PAINTERS

Nancy Collier "weeded" the background of a vinyl graphic design for the Gordonville Fire Department.

Matt Chubboy's art work doesn't hang in galleries. But, it's seen by thousands.

Chubboy, of Jackson is a sign painter.

"I was artistic through high school," said Chubboy. "People told me I should be a sign painter.

"I did some lettering, plaques, and other artwork for the military," he added. "I wanted to be an artist."

Following discharge from the Army, he opened a small art shop.

"People still told me I should be a sign painter."

"I do some artwork," said Chubboy. "I'm working on a portrait now, but I have to fit in between sign painting."

Chubboy's artistry came through during a sign painting assignment in downtown Cape Girardeau.

His talents can be appreciated by the public as they pass the Rufus Mudsuckers Getaway and Liquid Lounge, which opened at the corner of Main and Independence recently.

The Mudsucker design gave Chubboy an opportunity to show his "free-hand" abilities, along with the portrait-type picture of the dapper Mr. Mudsucker.

"I do enjoy doing the finer arts," said Chubboy. "And, the Mudsucker job gave me an opportunity to do that. It's one of my favorite jobs and I really enjoyed doing it."

Chubboy is among a dying breed of sign painters.

Most sign painters today use computers and printouts on vinyl, said Chubboy, who operates Signsation, a business in Jackson.

Another Jackson painter, Nancy Collier, also uses a lot of "free-hand" in her business.

And, like Chubboy, Collier also likes the finer arts.

"I do a lot of free-hand," said Collier, who specialized in designing logos for businesses, signs, and lettering, especially on trucks.

Collier, who teaches some art classes in Jackson, studied under noted Cape Girardeau artist Jake Wells, and with Grant Lund, who teachers art at Southeast Missouri University.

Collier's classes currently have paintings on exhibit at Celebrations Restaurant in Cape Girardeau.

Collier, a graduate of the university, with a bachelor's degree in education, has a major in art, and minor in industrial art.

She competed in the Jackson mural contest a few years ago, which was won by Lund.

Although she uses the free-hand method in many of her sign jobs, she also utilizes computers. "The computers allow me to get into more arty things," she said.

Sign work keeps Collier busy.

She recently built a large studio for her work. The studio, 40 x 70 feet, is large enough to pull a tractor-trailer truck into.

Collier also has two 16-foot easels.

"It's a full-time chore," she said. "Sometimes, I get busy on a project and lose track of time."

Collier has been into art for the past 14 years.

The artwork she submitted in the mural contest conveyed historic buildings, McKendree Chapel, the old hosiery mill and other industrial mills, the Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Collier's artwork was a finalist in the contest. Lund's design featured a large portrait of President Andrew Jackson, after whom the city is named, as well as a Homecomers banner, a blacksmith, the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse and old-time musicians.

Chubboy had a hand in the Jackson mural.

Chubboy, then working for Coast to Coast Signs, used a computer to reproduce a grid onto the building's wall. Each 12-inch square contained a piece of the overall work, and were assigned a color by number.

It was essentially paint-by-number," Chubboy explained.

But it was a challenge, he added. "On a flat surface you don't have grooves, like those between the bricks of the mural wall."

Chubboy had to pile a lot of paint in the grooves.

Chubboy has been painting sign about 20 years.

He worked for a sign painter, spent about five years with General Sign, worked with Coast to Coast, then left to go on his own.

"I've been pretty busy the past three years," he said. "I'm a one-man show, which has probably been a disadvantage for me. Sometimes, I have to spread myself pretty thin."

Chubboy was introduced to art as a youngster.

"My mother was an artist," he said. "She won several awards in Southern California and she taught art."

Chubboy won some art awards while in high school and pursued art in college, but eventually left college to join the Army.

"I call myself a painter," he said. "But, I would like to get more into design."