Member-only story
Starman
A 30-Day Music Memory Series
In the Winter-Spring of 1995–96, I took a job as a painter for a company that planned and staged fundraisers and fancy events in Las Vegas. I worked late nights after school, and on weekends, we constructed and painted stuff like 18' x 18' canvases for handpainted portraits of The Four Tops and full-scale reproductions of the most famous and historic neon Vegas signs. I worked with Artie, Charles, Doug, and Jack (when he showed up). Artie led the team and always chose the music we’d work to, and he loved, LOVED David Bowie.
I learned so much from this crew. Artie was an incredible creative director and pulled ideas together like no one I’ve ever seen. Charles taught me how to paint straight lines freehand, fast, but I never did nail the speed he had. Doug let me use the nail gun. As a metal sculpture major, I was familiar enough with shop equipment, but it was technically designated to the carpentry team, not the art team. I wish we’d had iPhones back then, so I had some photographic memorabilia of this life chapter.
Because Artie did a fantastic lipsync performance of Bowie’s, Starman one night as we finished glitter and ‘light-bulbing’ a life-sized replica of the classic Vegas Silver Slipper, that’s the song that takes me back to late nights in a cold warehouse, painting with cold fingers, and laughing to keep warm.
