"He had shown me an example of the kind of image he had in mind. It was loosely based on a friend's sun tattoo."
After determining the location for the painting, Hoffmann turned his attention to finding a suitable medium for the piece. He found it in an unusual but fitting place.
New use for an old tabletop
"We basically rolled in an extra tabletop from the basement of OleŽ. Right away we saw that it was the right size for the space."
From then, Hoffmann returned to his studio, which was a few doors away at the time on Lafayette avenue and started work. After sketching out the initial form, the edge was cut to reveal the flares. Then came the real time-consuming work.
After all, tabletops don't usually find their way to becoming suspended on walls.
"As with all of my shaped paintings the surface needed to be prepared properly. That included filling and sanding the surface to provide a proper support. Then sealing the surface and providing final coats of gesso [a type of primer] to apply the final paint to.
Colors and design that do double-duty
All along Hoffmann had
been working out the colors of "The
Sun" in his mind, so the final process
was pretty easy. Still, choosing
a color palette and working out
a design that would later be able
to look so good on a screen-printed
label was no small feat.
"I'm just happy that the response has been so good to the painting, and now the salsa packaging," said Hoffmann, whose sun appears both on the jar label and the jar top. "The design translates really well into the much smaller scale of the jar, and it really gives OleŽ's salsa a definitive identity, he added.
Canto certainly agrees, as "The Sun" is now making its way as the new logo for the restaurant too.
