The writing on the window leaves no question. There is a new gallery in town. The tiny building that shares a wall with the popular Phoenix restaurant on Broadway now reads, Ratliff in large, white script letters that span the front reflective window. Terry Ratliff fans are streaming in like rats following the piper.

It seems that whenever one turns a head in a restaurant, public building or even the homes of a friend in this city, there is a Ratliff signature scrawled across a canvas. His work hangs on walls all over town. The standout, bright colors Ratliff applies with an energetic but well-tuned hand are easy to spot. His range in style proves he is, to say the least, versatile. He is an “order up” painter who can fill just about any need for any collector who wants to fill a wall. 

With such a large following, one would assume Ratliff would own a puffed up ego. Not so. An inviting handshake welcomed me into his gallery, a long, narrow space flanked by exposed brick broken up by sections of deep purple walls. Large mirrors paired with a row of hair-cutting stations in the building that was once a barbershop make the gallery look brighter, as the reflections of his bold work hit visitors with eye candy from all sides. The floors are warm and wood-covered, and a few cozy pieces of furniture easily shift positions to accommodate lively conversations. 

Those who know Ratliff know that conversations with him are upbeat, intelligent and spiked with a bit of edgy wit that reflects the range of experience, both good and bad, he has had over his long career as an artist. He has worked in a variety of studio spaces all over town, but finally feels he has found the just-right location. Many readers will remember the house on Jefferson Boulevard from which he worked and hosted many a Trolley Tour stop. He has since outgrown the small house once used as both a studio and a gallery. 

Ratliff says of the space, “After a while it got kind of tiring to be painting in a dining room all day long. It just got to be too much.  The lighting was terrible.” 

The Jefferson location still holds stacks of his work; he estimates it contains over 1,000 pieces. From now on, it will serve as a holding area for work waiting to be edited or sold.

Even without a gallery to fill, Ratliff keeps working. His recent focus has been on a variety of commissioned works, and he explains, “For a while it didn’t really matter that I didn’t have a place to show because I’ve been working with clients. I recently did 67 pieces for Indiana Tech.” 

Ratliff is so highly esteemed by locals that commissions often come with few parameters. He says of the Indiana Tech project, “I didn’t have many guidelines. They said they trusted me, which put on a lot of pressure. They gave me a color scheme and let me run with it.” 

Even being well seasoned by experience, Ratliff can feel a bit apprehensive about the work produced for commissions. 

“When you try to do something for someone else, it’s never as good. It’s not coming from your soul. When I paint a painting for myself, I don’t worry if anyone is going to like it,” he says.

Ratliff recently stepped back into the studio with the goal of painting for himself. He paints nearly every day and explains, “It’s a scary job. I’m not assured of a paycheck. Even after a commission like Indiana Tech, I have to get right back to work. You can’t be lazy or take the day off. It’s a job for me.”

Setting up his new space took time and focus away from his studio routine.

“When I was getting this place ready, I didn’t paint for at least two weeks and  it was getting into my head,” he says. “I missed it. Now I have about 20 pieces going at a time.”

Between working on a tidal wave of commissioned pieces and developing new work that follows his own passions, one might wonder how Ratliff keeps the momentum of consistent sales going? After all these years, it seems his spark would fade. The answer to his success is his fireball personality, dedicated work ethic and polished marketing skills. 

Ratliff can whip pieces out in just a couple hours. “The faster, the better,” he says, yet his quality remains high and his pieces express the passion that he holds. “That’s what selling art is about. You have to be enthusiastic.”

Enthusiasm and relentless energy are what makes showing and running his own gallery a sensible choice for this artist. Ratliff questions why he would want to split the commission with another gallery and says, “I want to sell myself. I don’t want someone else to sell me. I would feel like I’m missing out on something if I wasn’t there to meet the people who buy my work and take it to their place to install it.”

For Ratliff, the stars often align to guide him to the next client or phase of his career. Just as the Casaburos kicked started his success by filling their restaurants with his work, the opportunity to open his own gallery on Broadway just sort of, according to Ratliff, “fell in my lap.”

He talked to Matt McCoy, the owner of the building about having a place to show his work. 

“The walls were yellow from cigarette smoke. The floor was almost non-existent,” says Ratliff, “but Matt did everything he could to bring this place up to par. The sign on his restaurant reads, “music, food and art.” It’s going to be a perfect fit.”

Filling the gallery with inventory won’t be a problem. 

“At my studio on Jefferson I have stacks and stacks of paintings,” says Ratliff, but he won’t just be digging out old pieces to hang on the walls.  “I’ve found 10-year-old paintings that I rework. Now that I know a bit more about myself as an artist and what I’m trying to say, I have more direction.” 

He quickly whips out his phone to show a photo of a piece he reworked just that morning. “I completely revised this one,” he says. “I primed an old work and pumped out this painting of two people eating spaghetti.” The piece shows a whimsical, yet stylish couple slurping a strand of pasta, very reminiscent of the Disney scene shared by two runaway mutts.

Ratliff warns other artists not to destroy old pieces that have become stale. “Don’t throw it away, you can pull something out of it,” he says. 

He also enjoys looking at the progression of his work and says, “I like the vintage ones because they are more raw. I can’t do raw anymore. I’m more calculated. I’d like to have that rawness come back into my work.”

While Ratliff has spent years developing his own career, he now searches for and supports young artists with potential. 

“There’s a couple of artists who I really admire,” says Ratliff, “and I’m trying to help them as much as I can. I try to help them get shows and teach them about marketing. It’s important to develop a brand.

“It’s all about hanging your art. I tell young artists to get your work out there. You might have to sell your work for next to nothing but if you keep doing it, it will happen for you.”

For Ratliff, it is happening again. “Fort Wayne is getting better and better, especially here on Broadway,” he says. 

That’s 1124 Broadway, to be specific, open Friday and Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sunday 2-7 p.m. Certainly this new gallery will keep things moving forward for both the city and for Ratliff.