When Jackson Hendrickson drives home on Rossville Boulevard, he sees artwork he likes.
That's because he created it.
Hendrickson spray-painted murals on a number of businesses up and down Rossville Boulevard, including Chubby's Bar-B-Q, the Rossville Bottle Shop (Liquor & More) and Precision Auto Repair.
The artwork is bold, eye-catching - and often comical.
There's a Looney Tunes-esque "Three Little Pigs" theme to Hendrickson's paintings on three sides of Chubby's Bar-B-Q at 3801 Rossville Blvd., including a big, bad wolf recommending, "Don't do drugs ... EAT BBQ."
More Info
See Jackson Hendrickson’s work online at www.facebook.com/jackson.hendrickson.9 and at www.instagram.com/grintags.
Hendrickson also painted a SpiderMan-style pig on the barbecue joint - partly because he had lots of red and blue spray-paint on hand, and only a little bit of pig color left.
"A few people have stopped and had their pictures made with it," said the restaurant's owner Deni Heaton, who praised Hendrickson's talent - and his speed. "He's great. He painted all that, the whole place, in like four hours."
Another satisfied customer is Miguel Lopez, who owns Precision Auto Repair at 4406 Rossville Blvd., which Hendrickson adorned with a giant piston, spark plug and wrench above a black-and-white checkered race flag.
"Some people like it, some people think it's weird," said Lopez. "I like it."
Hendrickson only asked Lopez to cover the cost of the spray-paint - though Lopez kicked in another $300 after the artwork was finished.
"That was one of the first ones I did on Rossville Boulevard. I wanted exposure on that one," said Hendrickson, who goes knocking on business' doors and offers to paint the murals and artwork that he signs as "grin tags."
Hendrickson has only spray-painted murals for about three years.
"I've been into art my whole life. The [spray] cans are kind of a new thing," he said.
He wants to make it clear that he's not a tagger who spray-paints graffiti where it's not wanted.
"I only do permission or commission work," Hendrickson said.
As murals have sprung up on Chattanooga's North Shore and Glass Street neighborhoods, Hendrickson thinks Rossville Boulevard has been shortchanged.
"They kind of left Rossville Boulevard to the wind," he said, adding that his artwork "makes the road I have to drive home a lot prettier."
Hendrickson, 37, is from Worland, Wyo., a town of about 5,000 people. He does construction work full-time and paints murals as a side job. He and his wife, Amanda, who's a social worker, moved to Rossville in 2010 after researching such factors as the cost of living here. They've got two daughters, Cecelia and Jocelyn.
Other murals that Hendrickson has done in Chattanooga include paintings of the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel and Walnut Street Bridge at Chattanooga Hot Tubs and Swim Spas, a business that fronts Highway 153 next to Mike's Golf.
His biggest work yet, is a 110-by-20-foot mural inside the new brewery that Heaven and Ale will open at 300 Cherokee Blvd.
Hendrickson, who works for D.W. Construction, painted a mural on the back of The Brew and Cue, a bar at 5017 Rossville Blvd. that's owned by his boss, Darrin Webb.
The bar's clientele is like family, Hendrickson said, and the mural is "a memorial wall to the family members, people we've lost, along the way."
Hendrickson hopes to grow his mural- painting business.
"There's lots of walls in Chattanooga, so yeah, look for me," he said.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.