Kyle studio's art on display throughout nation

In one of the workspaces at Lynn Wilkerson's compound in Kyle, a group of mannequins shaped like the Statue of Liberty gripping a set of motorcycle handlebars hangs suspended from the roof. These oddities will be hung from the roofs of Freebirds Burritos all over the country. Wilkerson's company, Great Big Signs, has supplied the signage and interior dcor of all 95 of the restaurant's locations.

"Last year we did 32 in one year," Wilkerson said. "It's been a good gig for us. We've got some other good gigs, but that one has been pretty remarkable."

Wilkerson, with a ponytail to rival his friend Willie Nelson's, has been in the sign-painting business since he began working an apprenticeship and taking art classes at Texas Tech in 1974. He never graduated but is fond of telling people he went to the "KISS—keep it simple, stupid—school of engineering."

"We don't color in the lines too well," Wilkerson said. "If you just want a nice sign, there's an infinite number of places you can get one. But if you need something really creative, that's where we thrive."

Work by Wilkerson and his partner Mario Munoz can be seen all over Central Texas landmarks, such as The Texas Pie Company's big cherry pie in Kyle and The Watermelon Shop in Luling.

Julie Albertson, co-owner of The Texas Pie Company, said her business increased by 30 percent "overnight" when the sign outside her store went up.

"Now it's a community icon," Albertson said. "It's definitely a landmark, and we have people from all over the United States come to see that sign."

Wilkerson's work has afforded him many rare opportunities—getting to work with Kinky Friedman and Nelson on the former's gubernatorial campaign in 2004, providing signage for movies and national restaurant chains, even meeting his wife, whose company contracted Wilkerson to provide signage for a new McDonald's in Austin in 1993—but he is not in it for the accolades or money, he said.

He sums up his feeling about three decades of success in the art world with a story Nelson once told him about performing for a stadium that held 60,000 people.

"He said 'I would be doing this if there was 60 people,'" Wilkerson said. "'I'd be doing it on the weekends.'"

200 Opal Lane, Kyle, 512-262-2157, www.greatbigsignsinc.com