Back when I was only fourteen years old I did my first gigs as a professional artist. The jobs were Christmas windows on the local businesses in our small town. I quickly laid out the artwork by hand on the outside of the storefront glass using a yardstick and small bar of soap. Then I went back inside the store and painted the artwork and letters in reverse. Over a few short weeks I learned to draw and read backwards letters very rapidly. Fifty-three years later that useful skill is still handy on occasion. We are doing some cutout lettering for a large barn at Vala’s Pumpkin farm. The letters are arranged in a large arc and welded to some curved bands of steel on some riser posts. The easiest and quickest method to accomplish the task was to lay out the letters on the floor in reverse and then weld them to the posts on the back side. Once I had the letters tacked in place Matt made the final welds. One more piece is ready for paint.
