Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE

Media Credit: Christena Dowsett Roy Warren Lunt stands next to his recently completed mural for the band Brave Combo. Lunt has worked on many murals in the Denton area, including the art at Sweetwater Grill and Tavern.

Local artist Roy Warren Lunt has heard people say, "You can't make a living in art."

And while he said there might be some validity to those statements, for the past 30 years, he's been doing just fine.

Lunt does graphic design, carpentry, murals for companies and restaurants throughout North Texas.

"I dabble in all sorts of stuff," Lunt said. "If somebody has some kind of art need, I can probably help them out."

Growing up with parents who were artists, Lunt said he learned from watching them work.

"I was blessed to grow up in a family where art wasn't looked down upon," he said.

He said the creative gene appears to run in his family.

"I'm a third-generation artist; my kids are fourth-generation artists," Lunt said.

Lunt's family members regularly assist him with projects. His daughter still lives in the Denton area and continues his trade.

"Both of us have our own customers, but we do help each other out with jobs," he said. "We do very similar work."

Lunt moved to Denton from Duncanville in 1995.

As one of his first jobs in Denton, Lunt designed the logo and artwork inside and outside Sweetwater Grill in 1996.

Jeffrey Barnes, a member of Denton band Brave Combo, admires the mural including a snake on the outside wall.

"I've just sat and untwined the snake in my mind before," Barnes said. "It is just huge."

Lunt recently painted a window sign for the front door of Brave Combo's headquarters, off the Denton Square. He said the door is meant to look as if an underwater diver is looking through a porthole outside onto the street.

"He has a real spark of genius," Barnes said. "When he was working on it, I just sat for hours and watched it get done."

Black Bottle recording studio studio manager Nagaris Johnson said he liked the door's design.

"Seeing it grow step by step was impressive," Johnson said. "I think in the near future, we'll have to get him to do ours so it can be better than Brave Combo's."

As an artist, Lunt has worked several interesting jobs over the years including spending a year painting the Acme logo on objects like cars, hats and boxes for Warner Bros.

In 1977, a woman hired Lunt to paint the words to her favorite gospel song throughout her kitchen.

"Every time she walked through the room while I was working, she would start singing the song," Lunt said. "She said it was her favorite song."

Much of Lunt's work deals with designing and creating signs. He said he has endured several transitions.

When everything switched to computers, he said he didn't get much business for a few years.

Lunt said he does a lot of artwork for restaurants.

"If people stop eating, I'm in trouble," he said.

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