Every night she comes
To take me out to dreamland
When I’m with her, I’m the richest
Man in the town
She’s a rose, she’s the pearl
She’s the spin on my world
All the stars make their wishes on her eyes
She’s my Coney Island Baby
She’s my Coney Island Girl
She’s a princess in a red dress
She’s the moon in the mist to me
She’s my Coney Island Baby
She’s my Coney Island Girl
Tom Waits

As the summer has finally come the thoughts of amusement parks and getting outside for some adventures is always exciting. I saw an old rerun of the show Artstar that featured Steve Powers who paint signs at Coney Island for free to preserve the integrity of sign painting and history it has had there. It made me think of Tom Waits, who we’re going to see in Jacksonville, FL in July.

Powers started his sign painting quest in 2003, so it’s not something new - you can read the New York Times article that covered it, Flash, Dash and Now, Art. Also, visit Powers’ Gallery and check out his showcase.

I rounded some images of hand painted signs from flickr, click on a photo to jump to that photographer’s page. More photos after the jump.

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Hilo Chen was born in 1942 in Taiwan and moved to New York in 1968 after living in Paris. This series of paintings depicts beautiful women sun bathing on the beach. Yes, I said paintings! It’s amazing how he captures the photo realistic details like water droplets and lighting of the skin. His work is represented by the Benarducci Meisel Gallery. Click the read more link to see the rest of the paintings - note that the images after the jump contain nudity.

Hilo Chen, “Beach 149″ 2005, oil on canvas, 36 x 48

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