RLOCreative

Let create something great together!

RLOCreative is a one-woman small business that offers art, graphic design, and other creative services to clients both locally and virtually... without the pageantry and formality of a design firm. RLOCreative is a one-woman firm that provides art, graphic design, and other creative services in a friendly, down-to-earth manner. Serving clients locally in Douglas County, Oregon and virtually (anywhere there's internet access!)

Let's get started --> https://www.rlocreative.com/getstarted

09/19/2026

Thank you City of Oakland (especially Bette Keehley and James Hart) for hiring me to create the new sign for City Hall!

As you’ll notice, the hand painted design mimics the two “Welcome to Historic Oakland” signs along 99/Front/First St. that I repainted previously. For the City Hall sign I adjusted the red color so it would match the brick building more closely.

Projects like this require a steady hand and lots of time, patience, and coats of paint. But it’s so worth it. There’s nothing better than a traditional hand painted sign!

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Would you like to add a hand painted touch to your home or business? I paint murals, seasonal window decorations, patterned floor designs, custom address signs, custom “wallpaper”, and decorative elements on things like door frames, stair risers, cabinets… you name it. The roof is the limit!

08/17/2026

Designing a public service announcement banner might not be the "sexiest" project, but it provides an opportunity to flex my "form follows function" muscles.

For this banner, it was important to consider three factors:

1. Legibility: The letters need to be large enough and have enough contrast to be easily read from a distance and from a moving car.

2. Readability: The message needs to be easily understood -- it needs to be presented logically and with the most important text (the WHAT and WHEN) being larger and brighter as to grab attention first.

3. Longevity: This banner will ideally be used for years, which means the colors need to resist fading. Dark blue is highly effective at absorbing UV spectrum light.

So yeah... not the most exciting stuff, but I thought I'd share a little insight into the considerations that go into even a simple project such as this. Thanks for letting me help with this City of Oakland!

08/14/2026

Just wanted to give the community a heads up that from Aug 15th to Aug 20th there will be artists on the streets of Oakland painting scenes of our picturesque town* 🧑‍🎨🎨🖼️

If you’ve never seen an artist at work in real life, I highly suggest it! Better yet, bring your own art supplies and join them! You don’t need to be an “artist” to make art!

I’ll be joining! I’ve been wanting to give plein air painting a try for a long time, but admittedly it can be a bit nerve wracking being the only artist on the street. This way I’ll be in good company!

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*The artists will be painting all around Umpqua Valley and not just in Oakland so their presence in town will be sporadic.

07/30/2026

Thank you Sky Ironplow for hiring me to create your campaign yard signs and leaflets! As for the dogs and me, you have our vote! ;)

07/10/2026

Thank you City of Oakland for trusting in me to refurbish one of our town’s most important signs. Sadly time had taken its toll on the sign and it was in desperate need of repair.

You'll see in the before and after photos that I chose to alter the colors of the sign. The previous sign was a reddish-brown with white letters. I chose to change the sign to a shade that matches the town's old brick buildings, and changed the letters to be an antique white which felt more historic in nature.

For anyone who likes details, here’s a list of what was done to bring this sign back to life:
- Initial wash + treatment to kill moss/fungi
- Light sanding
- Scrubbing of steel support beams with wire brush and spray painting with heavy duty anti-rust primer
- Caulking of the top edge, gaps around the frame, and large cracks on front and back of sign
- Repair damaged portions of the frame using wood putty. Also used wood putty to rebuild a couple missing pieces of letters... can you spot them? :)
- Scraping inside of all 299 recessed letters to remove old loose paint
- Hand-painted multiple coats of antique-white inside the letters
- Rolled 3-4 coats of brick red paint onto the support beams and flat surfaces of the sign (the wood was so weathered on the back that I believe I it required 5+ coats back there)

Phew... I'm tired just writing that list, haha. That said, I'm already working on the next signage project... a new sign for City Hall! I'll post behind-the-scenes photos of that project when it's completed!

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P.S. Thank you also to the patient and loyal patrons at the Oakland Tavern who watched me painstakingly work on this sign over the course of several weeks. I know it looked a bit dicey, but thank you for trusting in the process ;)

07/08/2026

The best designs often start OFF the computer, with a pencil, a sketchbook, and a little brainstorming session.

That was the approach I took in creating the designs for this summer's melodrama, Choo-Choo Chicanery, (presented by Oakland Community Theater & Car Show).

The goal? To create compelling designs that convey the overarching theme of the play... DECEPTION.

As the name suggests, the play takes place on a train. When thinking about how to represent both the location and theme of the play, the image of a smokestack came to mind. Because smoke is intangible and constantly shifts, I thought it was the perfect symbol of illusions, secrets, or situations that are unclear or deceitful.

The green and moody color scheme was also a calculated choice, meant to represent the greedy motivations of the villain (and also because my research showed that green was a popular color for train cars in the late 1800s).

I had so much fun creating this advertisement and poster. Thank you for the opportunity OCT!

07/03/2026

Happy Fourth of July to my Oakland neighbors! Have a fun and safe holiday!

(And thanks again to Oakland Economic Development for giving me a grant that allowed me to buy this chalkboard sign - I love it!)

05/09/2026

Thank you Oakland Economic Development for the generous beautification grant! I LOVE my new planters and sidewalk sign!!! I also love all the other improvements I’ve seen around town lately! Nice work!

Between your many beautification projects and the few public-facing projects I’m working on with the city, I feel like Oakland is starting to look pretty darn spiffy!!

Address

208 NE 2nd Street
Oakland, OR
97462

Website

https://www.rlocreative.com/

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