ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OFF THE CLOCK
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON
"I talked to Beth, and she's not sure she can get down here. I said I'd fill you in on what she does, and she said, 'Don't say anything stupid about me.' So I don't think I'm going to say anything about her at all."
A conversation with Tim Shepherd is like staring at one of those 3-D computer-drawn posters. It's real colorful, but you have to kind of cross your eyes to get the whole picture, the magnificent hidden message. And, if you try too hard, it can make your head hurt.
I'm kidding.
But, Tim doesn't just give you the basics when you ask him a question. He tells you a three-dimensional story, in detail, and he says 'hey' to a million friends who pass by while he's doing it.
So, when he and his partner, Beth Sink, paint up the windows of Awful Arthur's in downtown Roanoke, it's more than dabbling. It's more than art. It's a conversation piece in Technicolor.
"It started because, I was down here doing real painting," says Tim, pointing at the bluish walls. "I got in with Todd Lancaster he runs this place, he's like the manager and he'd seen some of my band posters."
Tim has been in more bands than Nick Lowe. Currently it's the Vel-Veetas, a lounge-like blues band, and the larger Satellite of Love, which rocks more. As a guitarist/singer/photographer/artist guy, Tim puts together some of the most eye-catching and entertaining self-promotional posters you'll ever see.
"I kind of knew Todd from when I lived in Richmond," he continues. "Anyway, I was basically in here to talk to them about playing some music, you know. They were like, 'Hey, man, we love your posters. Could you do a poster for a party we have coming up?' Then Todd came up with the idea he's like, 'We've got these big windows. Why don't you just paint on them?'''
The first windows were for a Labor Day party at the restaurant. The designs were pretty basic and informational. "Then came Halloween and they said, 'Why don't you do some art for that.' They still wanted me to add the information on there, too what we call 'lettering' in the business ''
Over the past couple of years you've probably seen Beth and Tim's handiwork on windows downtown. Corned Beef & Co.'s, Full Moon Cafe's and the old Ward's Rock Cafe's windows have served as their canvases.
They've produced some amazing holiday windows. Cinco de Mayo featured brilliant Aztec medallions and gauchos in fat sombreros. They used Gaelic symbols and phrases for St. Patrick's Day. "Eileen's dad was translating over the phone for an hour." Recently, they covered a window with the ``Help me! Help me!'' scene from ``The Fly'' in gruesome detail for Halloween.
When Beth first joined Tim, he would draw the outlines and she would fill in the color. "I remember we did this huge, 10-foot tall turkey for Thanksgiving," Tim says. "And it had real turkey foliage, you know what I mean? All these different colors. And we kind of conferred on it.
"So anyway, one time, I'm working on this intricate thing and Beth just like catches up. So I said, `Why don't you just paint something yourself.' She kind of freaked out about it. But after the first couple of attempts she grasped a concept."
Beth does a lot of her own work now. "If she can see it, she can draw it," Tim says. "I do the designs in a sketch book, and then she goes at it. One Christmas we did this and I'm sure it's illegal Dr. Seuss thing with the Grinch carving some roast beef. We just copied it straight from the book."
The pair use the same powder tempera paint you used to mix with water in grade school. The rare mistake is easy to wipe off, and cleanup is a breeze.
Tim points out that covering such large windows isn't exactly easy. "When you think about an artist working on a canvas that big [5 feet by 10 feet], they'd be pulling in thousands of dollars," he says. "And we've got like 10 windows."
The real challenge is painting the windows from the inside. "You've got to paint backward," he says. And that includes the lettering. "You have to start with the foreground and work back."
Beth and Tim credit Todd Lancaster of Awful Arthur's with keeping the paintings going. "Todd likes to do this because he likes to be involved with the community," Tim says. "He wants to promote not just the restaurant or a band. He thought it was a cool thing visually to add this air of excitement downtown."
Beth Sink was able to make it just in time to check up on Tim's interview and to bring by a photo album of some of the windows they've painted. There's the Grinch and the gaucho and a dove with Gaelic written in a circle around it.
"It was really appropriate," Beth says. "It was my first lettering job, and I'm writing not only backward but upside down. It says 'Great Is My Glory.'''
* * *
Don't forget the deadline for the Off The Clock Yuck Fest Joke Competition is well nigh around the corner. Thanksgiving Day to be exact. That means you've still got time to send in a joke. The competition is getting stiff, but there's still some room at the top.
Maybe we should go over the rules again, too. Just to be sure. First, your joke must be printable in a family newspaper. We've already had one dirty joke (Remember, your mother might see it.) You must be 18 years old. Your joke must be funny! I've had a couple of violations of that rule. Be sure to include your name and phone number.
And one joke per person! I've had phone messages where the same guy tried to disguise his voice and use a different name, but left the same phone number three times. James Bond this guy is not.
Also, if you're going to send me two entries with different names, use different stationery and change your writing style. In other words, if you're going to pull a fast one, do it right.
Remember, the winners get tickets to Slaphappy's Comedy Club in the Patrick Henry Hotel, so enter today.
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: TIM SHEPHERD. 1. One Christmas the reformed Grinch wasby CNBthe subject of a Shepherd-Sink tableau on the windows of Awful
Arthur's in downtown Roanoke. color. 2. Shepherd and Sink
collaborated on this colorful turkey one Thanksgiving.