- Everywhere I went, I could always tell the difference between a hand-painted sign and a printed or vinyl sign.

(trunk thuds) (pensive music continues) I mean, for me too, it is a, you know, like a ego pride thing to know that when I drive around and I'll get to see the ones that I did.

(engine purring) (pensive music continues) I painted this stuff for Nicks on Broadway right here, the Trinity Rep mural and that thing.

Can painted signs just have the subtle imperfections that, like, let you know a human was there, you know, because we're not perfect.

(engine purring) My name is Shawn Gilheeney, owner, founder of Providence Painted Signs, and I paint signage (tool scraping) in Providence, Rhode Island.

(energetic music) (wheels rolling) Skateboarding from age 14 to 30, pretty steady.

That was definitely what dictated the path in my life for a long time.

Eventually, (energetic music) I was living out in California, doing skateboard videos.

I was hand painting skateboards, selling those at the skateboard park, and then I was on a big skateboard road trip, destroyed my knee, moved back here to get insurance, to get my ACL fixed.

And then sort of embarked on my fine art period.

I was exploring where, like, nature starts to overcome buildings through printmaking and paintings, all the different elements that would create that sort of slow destruction.

And then Johan Bjurman, he was a fine artist and a billboard painter here that once he started to retire, he reached out and started to sell me some of his old equipment and show me how to, you know, rig the side of buildings, like when we painted Trinity Rep, he really like opened up a like another level for us.

(pensive music) I am just trying to prep (tape crinkles) for my patterns.

I know where to put the gold leaf.

Gold leaf is like, it's so beautiful when it's done, but the process is so finicky and, (paper scratching) you know, the room for error is so small.

This is basically the glue for the gold leaf.

First I'll flood the glass with water, (paper rustles) then I'll pick up the gold and then, apply it to the glass.

Well, I always thought that like, you know, I'm like a construction worker with artistic sensibilities, you know, sort of the requirement to do all the different skill sets that I have to do.

But yeah, I mean the gold thing is definitely, doesn't come naturally.

It's a lot, like, holding my breath for two days straight.

It's only 23 karat gold, you know, it is a waste.

I still appreciate every day that I get to do this, and I think probably having my accident definitely made me appreciate it even more.

I had an injury with my table saw, you know, doing two things in sequence that I knew I shouldn't do, and destroyed the top half of my index finger and the saw blade went through the knuckle on my middle finger.

The injury initially was terrifying, and, you know, I mean, I didn't know if I'd be able to do it again.

I didn't know like how much pain I'd be in.

So much of my life is based around that finger, you know, (laughs) in that way where, you know, I look at all these old photographs and it's like, oh yeah, that's the finger that I was using and it's not there anymore.

(birds chirping) The GoFundMe, when that got set up for me was like a lifesaver.

(graphics thud) It was like getting to see all the people that would come to your own funeral, you know, it was quite profound.

But initially, ugh, you know, that first bit, it's terrifying and painful and hard for, you know, yeah, a good while.

Then you meet somebody else with a missing finger and then you're like, "Oh, okay, I'm not alone."

(Shawn chuckles) (traffic humming) I mean, amazingly, it's all on the wrist, not on the fingers.

So, you know, after a little while, once I could, once I healed up and went through, you know, physical therapy to rehabilitate the middle finger, it wasn't too, too hard.

(uplifting music) So right now I'm gonna remove the excess gold to reveal the lettering that I did earlier today.

It's definitely satisfying.

Put in all this work and then you get to, like, kind of have this magic reveal.

(uplifting music continues) A bunch of my goals I have done, which feels pretty good.

You know, like of Rhode Island businesses, I've got to work with, only the New York System, (graphics swooshing) The Avery, Narragansett Brewery, Al Forno, Oh yeah, definitely the Big Blue Bug.

You know, I never thought of myself as being super talented, but I always just worked really hard at it and just kept going.

(uplifting music continues) (energetic music) (static crackles)