​Ed Boyd vinyl artist

STEAM I know you are originally from Corpus Christi but how long have you lived in Rockport?
 

EB Since 1985. I’ve lived here longer than I did in Corpus Christi.
 

STEAM I hear you are a magician and used to pull a rabbit out of your hat. Are rabbits still part of your show?
 

EB Yeah, I’ve been doing magic since before I could drive. No, I stopped using animals in my show because they were a lot of work. It’s easier to do shows without them.
 

STEAM What kind of magician are you? Do you cut people in half?
 

EB I don’t do that kind of show as much anymore. When I first started out I was more into circus sideshow kind of show. Fire eating and that sort of thing. It has just turned into a magic show.
 

STEAM You did fire eating?
 

EB I used to do that back before there were smoke alarms and fire alarms everywhere.
 

STEAM Oh you mean when safety wasn’t a big deal?
 

EB Yeah, when safety codes weren’t so strict and we could get away with so much more.
 

STEAM When did you start doing artwork?


EB I’ve been an artist since I was a child but I don’t think I developed much attention until I started working with the stickers.
 

STEAM What type of mediums have you worked with besides vinyl?
 

EB I’ve always done oil pastels, pen and ink, and about five years ago I started carving Tiki’s out of old palm trees.
 

STEAM How did you come up with vinyl as a medium for your art?
 

EB Well, I was working at a sign shop and there were all these pieces of vinyl stickers left over because nobody uses paint anymore for signs. My idea originally was to cut squares and make a mosaic type of project, so I started messing around and came up with a few designs. I started showing my work around and met Pam Fulcher, who was the art director at that Rockport Arts Center. She took an interest in my creations because they were unusual and I’ve been showing there ever since.
 

STEAM How do you come up with your designs? Such as looking down South Congress at the state capital in Austin.
 

EB I have always been interested in cityscapes, buildings, cars, freeways and that sort of thing so the artwork design flowed through the way I’ve done it before. The difference is now I’m using stickers instead of drawing it.
 

STEAM How do you choose what you’re going to put your designs on?
 

EB The trick was trying to find something that the vinyl would stick to. My first designs were on Formica because it worked. What I found out was that these types of backgrounds are not easily framed or hung for gallery presentations. Plexiglas and surfboards have proved to be good backgrounds.
 

STEAM Your medium is so bright. What I thought was cool is that as you get closer to the picture you can see the different layers.
 

EB Actually that is both a problem and an advantage. As people walk by they don’t see it as vinyl stickers but as they painting and often they just keep moving by, but once they find out that it’s vinyl stickers they come back for a closer look.
 

STEAM I would think that you have to think inside out because you have to that whole vision of your end product and then build from the bottom up.
 

EB Yes, it’s kind of strange how I put these together. I have to think in reverse so say I’m making a mouth; I start with the inside of the mouth and add the teeth before I finish lips.
 

STEAM I know that when you’re painting and you make a mistake is it quick and easy fix you turn that brush mark into a bush or you take the color that it’s supposed to be and paint over, but you’re working with vinyl stickers. If you make a mistake is it something you can easily fix by taking off the sticker and moving it or is it something you have two live with the workaround?
 

EB It’s difficult to change things especially if they’ re in the background because the sticker can’t be moved. So for example if you want trees in the background you have to put them on before you apply the next layer and so on until you reach the foreground.
 

STEAM Do you take pictures of what you’re trying to build? Like your cityscapes.
 

EB It’s all kind of mixed up. Sometimes I have pictures of things, other times I know what I’m looking for, and I’ve done so many palm trees I know them; however, the VW bus that you use in your magazine (I have some of your magazines in my workshop) and I have incorporated some that into works I’ve been doing. So when you see the next artwork and it’s got VW bus you’ll know where it came from.
 

STEAM Some artist have a specific routines and superstitions they go through; do you have any?
 

EB I don’t have so much of a is superstition but definitely a routine. I learned a long time ago that if I stop in the middle of a design, I either don’t finish it or when you look at the picture you can tell that I did sections at different times. Larger pieces will take more time but generally it’s about three days to complete a picture. On day one I’ll do background, the second day will be the foreground, and the third day I’ll complete it and do touch up. Right now I’m working on a boogie board and in the background I have a beach scene with a Hummer that looks like the and old Woody from the 60s. Unfortunately it’s the same “60s blue” that I’ve used for the ocean, so I will have to change the color of the Hummer.
 

STEAM Since you don’t have a Facebook or a website where can we find your work?
 

EB Artist Cove Gallery in Aransas Pass, Felder Gallery in Port Aransas, Estelle Stair Gallery in Rockport, and occasionally I do shows in Corpus Christi at K-Space and The Arts Center of Corpus Christi.
with lips.
 

STEAM I know that when you’re painting and you make a mistake is it quick and easy fix (you turn that brush mark into a bush or you take the color that it’s supposed to be and paint over) but you’re working with vinyl stickers. If you make a mistake is it something you can easily fix by taking off the sticker and moving it or is it something you have to live with and work around?


EB It’s difficult to change things especially if they’re in the background because the sticker can’t be moved. So for example if you want trees in the background you have to put them on before you apply the next layer and so on until you reach the foreground.
 

STEAM Do you take pictures of what you’re trying to build? Like your cityscapes.
 

EB It’s all kind of mixed up. Sometimes I have pictures of things, other times I know what I’m looking for, and I’ve done so many palm trees I know them; however, the VW bus that you use in your magazine (I have some of your magazines in my workshop), I have incorporated some that into works I’ve been doing. So when you see the next artwork and it’s got a VW bus you’ll know where it came from.
 

STEAM Some artist have a specific routines and superstitions they go through; do you have any?
 

EB I don’t have so much of a superstition but definitely a routine. I learned a long time ago that if I stop in the middle of a design, I either don’t finish it or when you look at the picture you can tell that I did sections at different times. Larger pieces will take more time but generally it’s about three days to complete a picture. On day one I’ll do background, the second day will be the foreground, and the third day I’ll complete it and do touch up. Right now I’m working on a boogie board and in the background I have a beach scene with a Hummer that looks like an old Woody from the 60s. Unfortunately it’s the same “60s blue” that I’ve used for the ocean, so I will have to change the color of the Hummer.
 

STEAM Since you don’t have a Facebook or a website where can we find your work? Artist Cove Gallery in Aransas Pass, Felder Gallery in Port Aransas, Estelle Stair Gallery in Rockport, and occasionally I do shows in Corpus Christi at K-Space and The Arts Center of Corpus Christi.