Jeff Canham

When we were working on the shop and it came time to think about our sign out front, we thought of constructing all kinds of things—3-D holographic pyramid projections and whatnot. Keith just looked at us like we were nuts and gave Jeff a call. All we said to him, basically, was pyramid, wings, kind of this drawing but better, rainbow shave ice, nostalgic 80’s auntie who misses the early 70’s, wrong Egyptian, big, huge. And from all this, Jeff, bless him, knew to include a bit of gold leaf here and there.

Jeff got his start as an old-fashioned sign painter at New Bohemia Signs, the #1 torchbearer for the craft here in SF. While at school studying graphic design, Jeff was most interested in building fonts and working text into fine art. In 2005, he came along to New Bohemia to see about painting a sign for The Mollusk, and came away with an apprenticeship. Working there, Jeff learned to wield the secrets of the sign painter’s trade—paint, intimidating little long bristled brushes, and lots and lots of practice.

These days, Jeff is focusing on his own fine art work, freelance design, and the very occasional amazing sign.

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