Map page 18
The Broad Ripple Gazette
Vol. 10 No. 23
Including the Cultural Districts and Midtown: Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington, and Meridian St.
Sudoku page 10
Nov 22 - Dec 5, 2013
Page 24
Broad Ripple Village Association’s
Newsletter
Find out what your neighborhood association is doing for you!
Random Ripplings Photo courtesy of Blice Edwards
Jon Edwards and Chris Blice with their Posh Petals mural on 54th street.
Blice Edwards Studios at 54th and Monon By Mario Morone
mario@broadripplegazette.com
INDEX
Blice Edwards is a multi-faceted decorative art and design studio, whose work includes color consultations, faux finishes, ceiling murals, polished plaster, trompe l’oeil, (French for “Fool the eye”) wood graining, kids’ rooms, painted canvas applications for walls and ceilings and any custom art project for home or business. Chris Blice and Jon Edwards described their artistic beginnings. Chris said, “In 1992, during the faux painting boom, I was a waiter at Friday’s restaurant downtown and quit my job to focus on decorative painting. Jon explained, “I went to school for graphic design at the Columbus College of Art and Design before moving to New York, where I worked for two years at a package design firm. Everything I learned was the old fashioned way with pre-computer ruling pens, brushes and erasers like my grandfather had done. I didn’t want to sit behind a computer all of the time, so I did something a little fine art related.” He was painting backdrops for an Indianapolis company in 1993 when he met Chris. Combining their creative skills has left their signature brushstroke seen throughout Central Indiana and beyond. “We have painted multi-rooms, ceilings, floors, interior and exteriors in private homes across the country, including Pittsburgh, Naples and Orlando, Scottsdale, San Francisco and Chicago, but we’ve primarily worked in and around Indianapolis for the past 20 years,” Chris mentioned. Samples of their work are at: bliceedwards.com/ portfoli. One of their current projects, Titus Bakery, located at 820 West South Street in Lebanon, celebrated its Grand Opening on Friday, November 8th. Festivities included a ribbon cutting ceremony with local Blice Edwards Studios officials attending. “We painted the exterior of the building. It was a gray 1101 E. 54th Street ste F [OO25] cinderblock building. Some people (317) 259-4308 didn’t know it existed as a bakery. We bliceedwards.com painted the exterior with colorful and enormous doughnuts and signature pastries,” Chris mentioned. A link can be seen at: on.fb.me/1cDVkV0 Another recent project is at a nearby historic college campus. “Inside Robertson Hall, we painted a 2,400 square foot panoramic mural with buildings of Butler University’s campus, including the Holcomb Observatory, Clowes Hall and five other iconic structures,” Chris described. They also redid all of the walls and ceiling in the parlor room at the Morris-Butler House at 1204 North Park Avenue. A local landmark is a vintage Quaker Oats advertisement from the early 1900s they painted that appears on Angie’s List building in the 700 block of East Washington Street. Several other ghost signs were also recreated on the same alley wall. Recently restored, the Duesenberg Motors Company sign appears on the IndyGo facility at Harding and West Washington Street. The Indiana Automotive Historical Society and IndyGo’s unveiling of the Duesenberg ghost sign restoration occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. This was IAHS’ kick-off event for their program that
photo by John D. Hague
The elevator shaft is complete at the core of the new restaurant/ office tower under construction in the triangle formed by Broad Ripple Avenue, Winthrop Avenue, and the Monon Trail [G6 on map].
recognizes Indiana automotive heritage sites. Their events are at: www.facebook. com/IndAutoHisSoc Blice Edwards art studio changed addresses a few times before they found their current location. “We started out in business in the 1100 block of East 56th street in a garage and then from there, we moved to the Stutz Building. In 2000, we moved our studio to a home in Meridian Hills in the large RV garage that was previously attached. In 2011, we needed to get out of the house and into south Broad Ripple, where we previously created two more landmark projects, Good Morning Mama’s restaurant and Posh Petals flower shop,” Jon mentioned. These projects create an artistic gateway to their studio, located at 1101 East 54th Street, Suite F., next to Reese Kitchens, formerly Thorpe Awnings Co. Chris said, “I went to pastry school and was initially going to open a bakery, but we decided to move our business here instead. It took about a year and a half to clean out
See BE pg. 3
1 Blice Edwards
7 Local Contacts
10 Sudoku
15 Historic Ad
21 Random Rippling BlumLux
1 Random Rippling tower
8 Classified Ads
10 Mistakes winner
15 Crossword
22 Gettin’ Ripped in Ripple
2 Random Rippling Sphynx
8 Public Notices
11 Frog's Random Rippling
16 Round the Ripple
23 Random Rippling Mab
3 Calendar
9 Wine Scene Jill A. Ditmire
12 Random Rippling BRUM
17 Business Directory
24 BRVA Village News & Views
4 Buzzing Around Town
9 From the BRMHS anncmts 13 Random Rippling music
18 Maps
5 BR Brewpub Quiz
10 Where in the Village?
14 Random Rippling trophy
20 American Village award
6 Poetic Thoughts
10 Hidden History
14 Random Rippling Taverna
21 Right in my Own Backyard