tiki muralist painter needed - chef shangri-la

hi all !!

chef shangri-la tiki bar/ restaurant in riverside illinois needs your help. they are looking for an artist that can paint a tropical mural in the bar. Any one interested should contact betty at the chef shangi-la for further details- thanks !!

• tipsy

bump!!

This is an opportunity I would jump on if I had the skills! It could be either done classic style:

In the island landscape style, to further the escapist illusion:

...or in the story-telling style:

...or combining both:

...OR I could see someone like Ken Ruzic do a really great modern Tiki mural!

Something that people talk about and come to see, something to peruse and discover details while you eat and drink.

great examples sven !! unfortunately i fear that if no one steps up, chef shangri-la is going to be stuck with a mural that looks like a 3rd grader painted it.!!

c'mon people !! i know there is painting talent out there...i have seen it in these pages. this is a great opportunity !!

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2011-02-24 12:02 ]

If it was the summer and I didn't have a job at the time, I could see spending some time down there painting away. I feel it would take awhile to make a nice wall. If it was on a large wall size canvas I could paint from here, perfect.

A great opportunity for someone though.

And to BigBros pictures, I like them all but really like that first one.

i want to say the area is 10 ft by 8 ft or so.....it's not huge and it can probably be banged out in a weekend.

Man!
My family lives in Danville
but I'm stuck over here in Cali!
Would LOVE to paint a mural of that size and epic quality!
teaks made a good suggestion about painting it on canvas that size
and shipping it....
Good Luck on finding a capable and creative fellow for this job!

Ken and Robb Hamel should pair up for a big colab.

I'm interested but to far from my home in Cali -

If Ken wants to collab on this I'm in too!!

I fear that one has to accept that the craft of mural painting has died out, too. The skill to paint commercially in a large format, do it fast, but with a love for detail, is probably lost. The best we probably can hope for is something like this:

Which is better than a blank wall, yes...but it just doesn't have the magic.

Which is a shame: An original, intact Tiki hideaway like Chef Shangri-La (Tiki Modern p.254) deserves the best classic muralist stylings.

I'm considering telling them to get one of those large tropical wall paper scenes to install on the wall. Many of you may not know, the chef is now in the hands of suzies daughter betty and her husband dwayne..... They moved back here from L. A. after new years and both have been busy trying to get the chef up to speed in the 21st century. They have removed all the tacky chinese decor ( thankfully) - the main dinig room is now where the bands play and booths have been put in along the walls there. - the t.v. is gone from the main room and the cash register /takeout area has been moved. More tiki decor was installed as well. They are trying to keep it original and tiki and we are all behind them on it. The place is looking great. There are big plans for the chef's future, including a juke box in the bar which we will make sure has plenty of surf, lounge and classic rat pack era tunes as well as contemporary for their other customers. The mural is designated to go right behind the large wicker chairs in the waiting area. it will be seen by everyone entering and leaving the dining room. This is why it would be great to have a well made mural with a classic look to it in there.

p.s - suzie is doing fine. she fell ill briefly, but is up and around now. running the chef was just too much for here to handle at her age so she is relaxing with family these days.

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2011-02-24 04:48 ]

"c'mon people !! i know there is painting talent out there...i have seen it in these pages. this is a great opportunity and it pays cash !! " -Tipsy McStagger-

There is a lot of Tiki painting power out there, but how much of it is in the vicinity of the restaurant? They could probably get anyone they want if they're willing to pony up the money which would mean expenses for the artist to come there and a decent bit of change for the actual painting.

If the painting was done on large canvas they could probably get anyone they wanted (assuming they're willing to pay for quality work). But if they're serious about having a quality mural done they'll be able to find someone, they'll just need to do some footwork.

Here in Washington (the State) exterior murals (usually scenes depicting local history) are popular in small towns. The town of Toppenish has even made their murals the focus of their marketing to tourists. Most of the small town murals I've seen are well executed, some of them are even exceptional. It seems unlikely we're the only state that does this. Anyone who can take a small 1880-something photograph and make a good looking mural out of should be able to create a pretty decent tropical scene.

"...A really great modern Tiki mural...Something that people talk about and come to see, something to peruse and discover details while you eat and drink." -bigbrotiki-

You're faith in humanity is charming.

thanks !! i was just asked to see if i could dig something up- but you are right- if they google mural painters from the surrounding towns, dozens of options spring up- all different price ranges and styles....they could also consider making it a removable piece on canvass as you said. allowing the artists to work at home and install when complete.....

a good mural will make or break the vibe in a place. my fear is that they will take the cheap way out and hire some local yokel with no clue as to what tiki is or what the proper look should be to compliment the rest of the decor..... it could end up looking like something from a high school cafeteria if they are not careful, and they will have themselves to blame. There's no excuse for getting this wrong..... i'm gonna stop in in the next couple days and throw all the options i can think of at them as far as looking local online or using a photo mural - then the rest is up to them.

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2011-02-24 12:04 ]

...raises hand in classroom..."Me! Me! Me!"

As an artist who wishes to explore the mural concept this is an opportunity of a lifetime.

Please keep me in mind as an alternative. Cheers! G

Here's an easy solution. Create the murals on a series of canvas panels. Mail the murals and have someone frame them in wood or bamboo trim so that they look like one mural telling a story broken into various parts. That way it doesn't matter where the artist lives.

ta da!!

...working on a couple sketches of ideas this morning...panels are a great option.

all great ideas.....

if you are interested in this make sure you contact betty at the chef directly to let her know you may be interested and for more details-

• google chef shangri-la in north riverside, illinois for the phone # and address..... she'll probably want to see previous work as well so have that ready. The chef is computer savvy now, so it will be easy for you to email her pics and info about you and easy for her to find your websites if you have them....

at this time i do not have her email address and the chef website is still under construction - call her directly.....

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2011-02-24 12:01 ]

Funny that the space to fill is 10x8 feet. First thing that makes me think of is this item from craigslist, posted by Tiki Royale over on the Lanai thread...

On 2011-01-29 08:33, Tiki Royale wrote:
Here are a couple images of a large sign from The Lanai.
It measures 10'x6' with the word LANAI cut out of the middle! Inside of the letters is neon and the whole thing is framed in bamboo that must be 3" in diameter.

Don't know what happened to the craigslist listing though. Maybe it was sold, and the Chef Shangri-La isn't "the Lanai" anyway. Still, remarkable that it's almost the same dimensions.

-Randy

Tipsy, has there been any decision or progress made in regards to the Chef Shangri-La mural yet?

I was thinking that instead of hiring some artist outside of the Tiki community who does his own thing which might not be stylistically in tune with the Tiki aesthetic, they could have some skilled sign painter COPY an already existing design. This was done not infrequently, best still extant example is Damon's in Glendale, which used the Eugene Savage menu covers, AND a Reader's Digest cover, to very pleasing results:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1099&forum=5&vpost=432142

I would be happy to lend my original painting "Virgin Sacrifice" by Louis Behan as a pattern, I have always felt it would make such a great mural:

(from his son's website)

It might be a bit too racy though.

I was further thinking that a return to the theme of the name of the restaurant would be appropriate: Shangri La
Shangri La was popular culture's predecessor to Bali Hai as the ideal of an exotic Paradise-on-Earth ....AND it has an Asian connotation, very appropriate for the owner family!:

But trying to find mural-appropriate depictions of Shangri La did not prove so easy. Ideally, a Tiki bar mural depicts some fantasy PLACE - but I was finding everything else:

NOT the Shangri La material I was looking for. Neither was this:

(...though it's a great song!)

NOT!:

The original book cover seems too plain and not exotic enough:

The only thing I could surf up was this low res image combination, of which the lower image comes close:

I believe it's a still from the movie. The mood of a remote paradise would be right, but it seems not tropical enough. So ultimately, a talented artist would have to make up HIS vision of Shangri La - a possibility which, as we found, will probably remain our own personal dream.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-03-19 14:44 ]

thanks !! all good ideas..... i will be dropping by the chef tonight and will find out where they are at on this project. i will report back here in the a.m....

Okay- I spoke with betty tonight and she said the response has been overwhelming.... so thanks to all of you that expressed interest. I guess at this point it's gonna be up to her to decide what happens next... I'm sure that she will be contacting one or more of you soon...... till then, thanks again for your help. All i ask is that if anyone here is the one to paint the mural, please document it with pics and post here or in a new thread so we can all check it out.....

• tipsy

That's good news. It seemed local Tiki talent was not available, and the distance of other artists was gonna be a problem. Keep us updated, please. I hope whoever does it considers the Shangri La angle. A back bar painting needs to be something to gaze into and get taken to distant places by.

Rats. I just called Sandy to make a pitch for Song Shen and she said she already found someone. Sorry people.