13 down, 37 roofs to go

Cross-country U.S. flag painter Scott LoBaido uses rooftops for his patriotic canvas

At one point while standing outside Boston's North End Pizza in Aiea, artist Scott LoBaido shook his fist at the sky. "Rain!" he growled. "My enemy!"

It's this take-no-prisoners approach to art and life that has earned LoBaido a rep on the East Coast, up in the Blue States, where his uber-patriotic swash is considered outré. This is the guy, you might remember, who painted George Bush as a mounted knight holding aloft the severed head of Osama Bin Laden.

For those with even shorter memories, LoBaido is the guy who, inspired after painting a flag on a rooftop in New Orleans as a gesture of support after Hurricane Katrina, hit upon the concept of painting a rooftop flag in every state in the Union, preferably near a military base and big enough to be seen by GoogleEarth.

Boston's, across from McGrew Point Navy housing and on the slope overlooking Pearl Harbor, fit the bill perfectly. "And it had a private owner, who was able to say 'go ahead' right away," said LoBaido. "If it's a commercial building or in a mall, you can spend months trying to get permission. I also prefer blue-collar areas, military areas. I'm a working artist; this is a tribute to American workers and military. Kind of a big patriotic greeting card, saying, 'Attaboy.'"

Sure enough, he got an immediate go-ahead from Boston's, but the weather didn't cooperate. "Got rained on all day Saturday, got started Sunday and finished up Tuesday," said LoBaido. "That's pretty typical."

There was a steady flow of visitors to watch him work and say aloha. "That's pretty typical, too, but I love it when military stops by," said LoBaido. "There was one vet in a wheelchair who could see the rooftop under way from his apartment, and he rolled over to check it out. Great guy."

LoBaido says he's lucky to get the spot he did. "When I came here, I didn't know if this was going to be on Maui or Kauai or wherever, and here we are overlooking Pearl Harbor. The two most dreadful events in American history are the attack on Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attack -- I was there -- and putting the painting so close to Pearl is extremely emotional for me.

"While riding back on the boat from seeing the memorial, I looked to see if you could see the rooftop from Pearl Harbor, but there were things in the way. But I know it's there and that's great."

LoBaido heads back to Los Angeles today, with his Flagmobile Chevy Suburban being shipped courtesy Matson -- paints were courtesy Sherwin-Williams -- and when they're reunited he'll head to Nevada to flag a rooftop.

"Hawaii was No. 13; 37 states left. I can drive everywhere else, even up to Anchorage, Alaska, so getting Hawaii done was a big boost for me."

So he'll get to see blue-collar/military America, from sea to shining sea. Anything interesting occur on the road?

"Yeah, and this cracks me up," laughed LoBaido. "Everywhere I go, there's press coverage, and every single one of the stories mentions my 'thick New York' accent. Well, I'm from Boston. Imagine people in the deep South thinking I'm the one with an accent! Americans -- we're all so different and yet we're one country. No wonder everyone wants to live here."