× Expand Courtesy of Jeff and Randy Vines Robert and Eliza Fishbone prep the side of STL-Style and Cherokee and Compton for the mural they will paint on the side of the building.

Jeff and Randy Vines had never forgotten about that mural. Back in the mid-1990s, long before the birth of their line of T-shirts celebrating St. Louis, and even longer before STL-Style opened at the corner of Cherokee and Compton, the twin brothers would look up at "The Sky’s the Limit" in awe. The mural filled the entire western wall of 625 N. Euclid, facing Kingshighway, and for the Vines brothers, it represented everything they loved about St. Louis.

“It was the most exciting time in our life. ['The Sky’s the Limit'] represented everything exciting about going into the city from 1993 to 1997, we really bonded with it going to Double Helix Studios,” says Jeff Vines, who is a couple of minutes older than his twin, Randy, “We love public art, particularly from 1970s urban renewal projects.”

× Expand Courtesy of Robert Fishbone "The Sky's the Limit" by Robert Fishbone and Sarah Linquist, 1979.

Their “local origination cable show” was filmed during those years while they were in high school at Parkway North, and their 36th birthday party, where they played a digest of some of their old shows on the rooftop of the City Museum, is the stuff of legends. Luckily, Double Helix Studios had saved some posters of "The Sky’s the Limit," so Jeff procured a copy, even though the brothers still didn’t know the name of the artist who had painted it way back in 1979.

Unfortunately, as Jeff moved around after high school, he realized their copy of the poster had disappeared.

“I lost a part of my soul when I lost that poster. I wanted a copy in our shop,” he says. “Especially since [the original mural] is gone now.” Jeff began to search the Internet, hoping to find a copy of the lost poster, until one day he saw two names on an obscure website: Robert Fishbone and Sarah Linquist.

× Expand Courtesy of Robert Fishbone Robert Fishbone and Sarah Linquist, 1970s.

Jeff emailed Fishbone in January, and received a reply back later on that day; the artist came by the shop soon after, and stayed for several hours, bringing not just a copy of "The Sky’s the Limit" poster, but also other prints of works from around St. Louis.

“Robert is such a humble dude, but he’s a genius,” Randy says, happy that he and his brother have finally discovered the identity of the artist that had eluded them for 20 years. The Vines have always loved the East Coast, and when they learned that Fishbone grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, they were even more captivated with his life story. It was only later that they agreed to commission Fishbone and his daughter, Liza, to paint a giant mural on the western wall of their shop.

× Expand Courtesy of Robert Fishbone "Lindy, Squared," by Robert Fishbone and Sarah Linquist.

Robert Fishbone and his late wife, Sarah Linquist, literally made their mark on St. Louis for decades. Perhaps most notable was their "Lindy, Squared" mural, which was lost when the downtown building it was painted on was demolished. A second, smaller version, displayed in the now-renovated-beyond-recognition St. Louis Centre, is now in the collections of the Missouri History Museum.

The pair completed the first version in 1977, which worked out coincidentally to be the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s famous transcontinental flight. That brought the mural to international attention before it was destroyed four years later. Linquist also worked for The Muny for 20 years, painting stage sets. Meanwhile, Fishbone, who has lived in St. Louis since 1973, developed a career here as a site-specific artist. Last week I shadowed Fishbone and his daughter, Liza, who is in town from Austin to work on the STL-Style mural with her father. The day I visited, the two were busy preparing for a long day’s work in the blistering heat, which had been causing their acrylic paint to dry almost instantaneously (though they also had to wait overnight for the paint to cure properly). Father and daughter also worked together in 2016, along with local artist Libby Reuter, to create the mural on KDHX's building; Liza is also involved with Chalk Riot, and restores some of her parents’ murals when back in St. Louis.

× Expand Courtesy of Robert Fishbone Robert Fishbone and daughter Liza Fishbone stand in front of the mural on KDHX's Grand Center building.

Liza and Robert first met with Jeff and Randy to understand what the brothers wanted out of the mural. They decided it would serve several roles. Compton Avenue is one of the first cross streets in Cherokee with businesses, including a one-story garden shop on the west side of the street, so the mural will serve as a gateway to the business district on the east side of Compton. Robert also felt it was important for the mural to be a reflection of both what occurred in the shop, including the personalities of the Vines Brothers as well as the people who visit STL-Style.

The Fishbones took time to observe Jeff and Randy interacting with customers in the shop, and factored those observations into the design. The Fishbones also knew that their shared love of St. Louis architecture would play an important role, so the Eighth Christian Scientist Church on Skinker Boulevard and Wydown, as well as the Ashley Street Power Plant on the Riverfront, will play a critical role in the final design. Simultaneously, the bright colors of the 1970s, which the Vines Brothers love, will contrast with the arches of those historic architectural icons. “Liza has her own style, and you’ll definitely see that come to life as the mural is completed," Jeff says.

× 1 of 4 Expand Photo by Chris Naffziger Liza Fishbone works on the mural. × 2 of 4 Expand Photo by Chris Naffziger Mural-in-process. × 3 of 4 Expand Photo by Chris Naffziger × 4 of 4 Expand Photo by Chris Naffziger Prev Next

There are obvious challenges to working on an outside wall; the building is over 100 years old. While the masonry was laid expertly all those years ago, it is not a uniform canvas. The Fishbones primed and prepared the wall and fix any irregularities in the surface. They then projected the design up on the wall at night, and traced the contour lines while simultaneously keeping their shadows from blocking the light.

Of course, when it comes time to paint the actual composition, the artists will make changes to make sure the lines and colors will work. While the design will remain secret until the Jeff and Randy’s 40th birthday party next weekend, I saw a preview of the final product. As Robert said, it will definitely be a “mixture of the old and new, the traditional and the funky.”

Sort of like the Vines Brothers.

Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.