I've been wanting to share details regarding the Immaculate Baking billboard project in Minneapolis since the company first contacted Andy about it in early May. The vision is finally a reality!

Real. Simple. Made from the heart. That's what folk art's all about. And that's what Immaculate Baking's all about, too! Our relationship with Immaculate Baking started in August of last year. We met one of their marketing people, Angela, at the Slotin Folk Fest in Atlanta. On behalf of the company, she purchased two pieces of Andy's art to appear on their packaging. It took several months to develop the new products that would feature Andy's art, and they finally hit stores in June. If you're familiar with Immaculate Baking, you've surely noticed that their packaging always includes original art from various artists, as well as each artist's bio. What a fun and exciting way to introduce Andy and his work to families across the country!

Of all the artists the company could have selected, we were honored that Andy was chosen to paint the Immaculate Baking billboard in Minneapolis, where their headquarters is located. The 40x18 billboard is above the former National Camera Exchange building, at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and South 10th Street. So, how did Andy do it? Glad you asked.

In June, Andy painted a rough sketch of his concept, added a bit of color, and wrote out the wording the company wanted. He sent digital images to their graphic designer, who checked with the billboard company on how big the lettering and products needed to be in order for them to be visible from the street. Andy's color was removed and converted into a light sketch, and the logos and products were added so that they would be 100% accurate (branding and whatnot).

Andy flew to Minneapolis on Monday, August 4th. Angela picked him up from the airport, and their first stop was the billboard. They had a safety run-through and took a trip up onto the window washing platform.

Andy started painting bright and early on Tuesday. Spray paint was used for the background color. By the end of the day, most of the background was done on the left "day" side.

Wednesday started before the sun came up, when CBS Minnesota met Andy at the billboard for a video interview. By the end of the day, he had completed the detail work on the left side.

On Thursday, Andy moved to the right "night" side of the billboard. Thanks to great weather and RedBull, Andy worked quickly. By the end of the day, the background on the right side was complete.

By early afternoon on Friday, August 8th, Andy completed the detail work on the right side. He then spent the rest of the afternoon adding the final touches. If you look closely, you'll notice a few unexpected additions. First, he included stick figures to represent me and the kids. Next, he hid artist tributes in the bridge (Justin Gaffrey, Woodie Long, Bebo, Moore Family Folk Art, Francisco Adaro, Chris Cumbie, and Justin Lyons). He also included a tiger and some guitars, because he couldn't resist! The very last step was including his signature and #EPICfolkart (the hashtag Immaculate Baking had been using all week).

This was such an amazing project for Andy, and he truly enjoyed being given the opportunity. If you followed his progress on social media, thank you so much for sharing this experience with us! We hope you enjoyed it, too.

The story doesn't end there! Immaculate Baking had a film crew capture the entire process, and Andy was wearing GoPro cameras while working. Watch the behind the scenes mini-documentary...

...and the time lapse video...

Also, you can check out more photos on Facebook.

Some photos used in this post are from Immaculate Baking and were used with permission.

Immaculate Baking Billboard in Minneapolis