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The front cover of the Business Journal May 31, 2002 written by staff writer Debra Rivera Fujimoto on page 14 the story begins and finishes on page 30, below are a few photos that were taken. Here is what was written about FranCisco Vargas on that day.. |
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Now
because of his relentless determination and ambition, Vargas owns his studio,
where he creates signs, murals, oil paintings and wall graphics. You might
remember eyeing his mural of the 8-by-12 foot Marilyn Monroe on Weco Supply Co.
building on east Ventura Avenue, or the cue ball Wall Power mural at Mecca
Billiards on Fulton Street.
More impressive paintings include the Heather Locklear and Tommy Lee
portrait as well as portraits of Tony Curtis, Rob Lowe and Ava Fabian. And the
acrylic painting Kimberly Conrad, Playboy centerfold model, presented to her in
1989 when she married Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
On the average, Vargas produces 10-15 art projects a month. Prices for
his designs an estimated $50. An hour or $20 to $40 a square foot, depending on
the job. His customers include Fashion Furniture, New Life Discovery Schools,
Panagraph, Arte Americas, Commerical Neon, Baskin’s Auto Supply, W.B. Saleh
Painting Co. and the annual Blackie Gejeijan’s Autorama show.
But after being an expert in his field for more than 20 years, Vargas has
had to update his artistic skills. At Studio Vargas, he displays many of his
previous works, and has had to learn computer technology skills as well. Many
businesses don’t hire people who paint signs anymore, he said. “When the
computer came out, it bumped out the sign painters and billboard artists,”
said the 51-year old. “My trade became a dinosaur. I have to do a whole
variety of stuff now.” His jobs now involve etched glass design, gold leafing,
murals, installations and fabrication.
But the computer has made business projects easier. “I can show a
person now what I can do for them without having to paint the sign,” Vargas
said.
But what about the competition? That’s not a worry for him. Vargas said
most people who work on computers don’t have the same design skills compared
to his. Vargas’ clientele usually reach him through word-of-mouth or through
subcontracts.
To complete some of his work, Vargas has had to sometimes go up to 100
feet in the air in boom lifts helping out a fellow sign painter in Birmingham,
Al. Some of his art –work can be viewed at the new Table Mountain Rancheria
Casino and Bingo Exhibit Hall Ceiling, in addition to the 6-by-400-foot designs
on the Eagle Mountain Casino exterior walls in Porterville, and also at The
Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, where walls are decorated with a
southwestern designs.
After viewing his work, it may be difficult to believe it could have all
started with a “bad habit.” Scribbling his name on restaurant walls, phone
booths and bus stops with marking pens was a hobby for him in his youth, until
people who knew him advised him to do something constructive with his expressive
tendency.
But the push to pursue an artistic profession could have also started
when Vargas walked into the shop of Frosty the Creative Artist, in San Jose, CA
where he had some business cards made, aroused by the posters and signs.
After analyzing the owner’s artistic techniques and receiving his first set of
lettering brushes, he practiced. “But it wasn’t as easy as I thought,”
Vargas said, after being laid off at jobs because lack of knowledge. But Vargas
didn’t give up. He attended the Los Angeles Trade Tech School. Due to an
illness of one his daughters he was only to attend for a short period. “What I
learned there during that month really helped me even more,” Vargas said, when
beginning his wall art.
Since then he has worked for one of the art directors of the sign shop of
Warner Bros Studios, different sign shops and Vargas Studios in 1984 inside an
old shack in his backyard in San Jose. Later he moved back to Fresno, where he
lived until he was 17 and where he worked picking grapes and chopping cotton,
and began Studio Vargas on Belmont Avenue in 1987, across from Roeding Park.
Now his future plans are to increase the painting of murals, reproduce
his own limited editions, learn web design, pursue the digital printing market
and teach young students graphic art.
In addition to being an artist, Vargas is also a contributing writer for a national sign publication, Sign Builder Illustrated. He’s also painted his way across the United States, from Fresno, CA to Key West, Florida. To view some projects of Studio Vargas go to www.franciscovargas.com
Business Journal