October 31 - 2 November 2003 

Jammin' with Gerald at Gerald Horton Signs 

Rangiora 

New Zealand

The first job was to create racks for the gilders glasswork, followed by a general tidy up and the shuffling of equipment to make space for the forty plus arrivals due the following morning.

Friday dawned fine as a handful of us strolled the kilometre from the motel into town and throughout the early part of the morning pretty much everyone arrived.  On offer was an array of clock faces, guitar and toilet seat shapes, all kindly sponsored by Clyde Cook of AFM.  These were for airbrushing or painting.  Also on offer were brass plates for acid etching, Oamuru stone for carving along with some river stones for sandblasting/painting/what-have-you, gold leaf and of course body painting.

Those doing the glass under the expert tutelage of “Aussie” John Jordan, who was attending his third NZ Letterheads, set about masking up for sand blasting and glue chipping, while Bruce Greig set about preparing an American pick up for the ultimate graphics and a flame job in Gerald’s new spray booth.

Before we knew it, it was lunch time which meant time to chat to old acquaintances and meeting new friends.  All too soon lunch was over and it was time to get back into the project work.  Andrew Biggs from Award Signs taught us how to prepare brass for etching.  Pretty much everyone went for the Letterheads logo.  The toxicity of the acids saw us working outside with protective eye, nose and hand ware.  Andrew, with the help of John Jordan, chose to silver leaf his acid etched panel.  During this time Mark Calcutt from Sign Mark was taking the stone carvers through the stone selection and shaping basics.

People worked on through the afternoon until dinner time when an inordinate amount of pizzas were delivered and those present took a well earned break.  Then it was more of the same as projects were picked up on again.  It wasn’t until after ten at night that people started drifting off to their motels or in some of the youngsters cases, off to the bright lights of Christchurch.

Saturday started with a his and a roar with notably few sore heads.  Those gilding got to see what their glue chipping was looking like as they cleaned up in preparation for gold leaf.  The V8 was starting to take shape with tray graphics in place and a decent start made to the flamework.  The panelwall had more than just background in place and the stone carvers were starting to see form develop in their works also.

Another healthy sized luncheon saw those present taking some short respite before work started again in earnest.  After lunch the arrival of one male and two female models saw attention switch to the body painting and airbrushing.  It had been decided that the ladies present and willing to take on the task would use the male model while they guys would work with the females.  All three groups chose their artwork earlier and set about creating their vision.  Dean Johnstone and Sean Golding from JBFX elected to recreate Wonder Woman, while Chris Field and Mark Calcutt used chain art on their model.  The girls, Kiri Turner, Lisa Pointon and Corrina Blackwood, used an “Arnie” theme.

Thanks at this stage must go to Trade Signs and Computaleta Services for sponsoring the modelling fees.  Thanks guys!

After the obligatory photo session, those present just got on with work until the evening meal was ready.  This year the Saturday night meal was a bit of a first for Letterheads in New Zealand as Gerald had arranged for local caterers to bring in table and chairs and to feed us en-masse in the workshop.  To say the meal was good would be an understatement as entree, main and desert was served on tables with table cloths, napkins and flower arrangements.  We were really looked after.

At this point in time the juke box/karaoke was cranked up the odd decibel or thirty so as Max Kearney and Dean Johnstone, among others, could seranade us as a few cold ones were sunk and work on projects continued.  The apprentices along with some of the younger Hortons in attendance decided that some extreme sports were in order.  This involved a large wooden cable drum with enough room to put people in the hub, the large car park that is part of Gerald Horton Signs, and muscle power.  Oh yes, and something solid and hard to bring the said equipment to a halt at the end of the ride!

Those of us with a few more years, a lot more smarts and a lot less cold ones, sat around the huge brazier that had been stoked to last until morning and watched the youngsters have fun with the cable drum, karaoke and Twister.  A few really keen ones boxed on with projects before people started drifting off back to their cots around midnight.

Another perfect North Canterbury day was in the offing on Sunday.  An early breakfast and then it was back to Gerald’s for a bit more jammin’.  The beer fridge was starting to take shape and projects were starting to approach completion.

Lunch time rolled around far too quickly and then it was into the pinstripe racing.  Once again quality gave way to speed as each had a go at laying a scrappier line than their predecessor in the name of speed and fun.  And once again a fair share of laughs was had.

The group photo was taken even though a few had to slip away early for flights back home.  Gerald was thanked most sincerely for the efforts he had put into ensuring that a quality time was shared by all.  Chris Field thanked those in attendance for being part of Nz’s biggest Letterheads yet and when it was asked if anyone was prepared to host a similar event next year, Corrina Blackwood, an apprentice from Miller Studios in Dunedin, with the blessing of her employers offered to stage the next Letterheads.

All that remained now was to bid old friends and new farewell until next year in Dunedin.

The Letterheads event was again very well supported by those who employ apprentices with there being ten apprentices in attendance from around the country.

A special mention of Signwriters Supplies sponsorship of two students of the Introduction to Sign Making course at Whitereia should also be made.  Not yet in a full time sign shop environment, Iain Tau and Edward Watson nevertheless enjoyed the experience of Letterheads and felt that they benefitted from mixing with other apprentices and those who enjoy maintaining and adding to the skills base.

There’s a whole host of people to thank for making Letterheads 2003 the event that it was.  They are, in no particular order, Computaleta Services, Plywood City, Typecut Markings, Trade Signs, AFM Ltd, Signwriters Supplies, Esselte New Zealand, LCS, Spandex, Mulfords Plastics and Lion Breweries.

From here on in it’s best to let the photos do the talking.