By Rachel Knight
Art takes many different forms and emotions. Vincent van Gogh was expressive through art; Fred Astaire and Martha Graham used a creative skill; Norman Rockwell’s paintings dealing with both good and bad parts of American life in the mid-1900s showed emotional power. Brazos Valley artist Tony Watson uniquely expresses his artistic skill and a family’s emotions for their deceased loved one through custom tombstones and monuments.
Watson is not just an artist. He is the owner of Watson Signs and Monuments, a memorial artist, a stone carver, an Aggie, a father, and a husband. His days are spent creating enduring memorials for the deceased out of lasting memories from their families. His work is expressive, creative, and emotional for everyone who has a hand in its creation.
Watson’s artistic process is centered around the families who purchase his work. He says creating a meaningful custom monument doesn’t have to break the bank. “I’ve always said a family is already going to spend money on a monument,” he shares. “I would rather them have something they can appreciate and want to go visit and remember good times instead of going to a cold place that’s mournful.”
Remembering good times at Watson Signs and Monuments is easier than you might think. “We come in here and we’re dressed comfortable on purpose,” Watson explains. “We don’t want this to be stressful. We want this to feel like a home.” Creating a feeling of home in his brick-and-mortar store makes it easier for people to remember happier times. Once a family is comfortable, Watson talks to them about their deceased loved one rather than asking what they want in a monument. He takes diligent notes, and starts forming sketches depicting who that person was on earth in their monument.
“It’s funny because it often becomes something unique or custom, but not necessarily if that’s not their taste,” Watson says. “I always tell them, ‘Be point blank with me, and if it looks like garbage, tell me it looks like garbage.’”
According to Watson, he often not only learns about his customers’ loved one, but also gets to know his customers themselves. Occasionally, this leads to lasting friendships. Such was the case with a customer named Mr. Peacock. “We did that monument last year, and he still comes to see us,” Watson says. “He’s in here all the time. The only thing is, he’s a ‘Bama fan. He comes in here and we’ll talk football. We had him come to our Christmas dinner last year.”
Friendships are not the only impact Watson’s work has on his life. Working with families who experience tragic losses firsthand has shaped various parts of Watson’s everyday life. For example, Watson made an award-winning monument for a child whose life was cut short in a heartbreaking accident.
“At that time my son was very young,” Watson recalls. “They talked about having Legos all over the house, which is what inspired the shape. It was one of those where it hit really close to home. So now, I don’t back up out of the driveway without knowing where everybody is. All of these monuments end up impacting me in some way, shape, or form, and that’s what we hope they do to everybody else as well.”
Creating custom monuments that foster fond memories of the deceased makes cemeteries feel less cold and more inviting, according to Watson. He says cemeteries did not become a symbol of death and cold feelings until tombstones started being mass produced in the same shape after the Great Depression and World War II. “Our goal has always been that we don’t want to produce cold monuments,” Watson shares. “I want to get it back to a place that people enjoy, because a cemetery is where the history is recorded.”
Watson Signs and Monuments has won numerous awards for their memorials. “I don’t care about the accolades as much as I care about knowing if our peers are voting and saying, ‘Hey this is good;’ then we know that our quality is good enough for the families,” Watson explains. “We always say that what we do here is a ministry and it’s to help families find closure. I can’t make it better. I can’t fix it. All I can do is help them through a tough time.”
