Man!! Busy busy busy! Finished up SAILOR JERRY #2 (below) for Beer Sellar in Castleton over last weekend and I am set to meet the people at Whiskey Business this coming weekend. I am really catching a groove on these and the cool stuff is just flowing out of me.. I have never painted better than I am painting right now.

I do need to get my sketches and samples of the SJ stuff together in a neat, organized fashion so they can be easy reference for me when I meet these bar owners. That book is going to look a little empty right now, but at this pace, it is going to fill up quickly!

Stay tuned..
T

As I say goodbye to what was probably my most successful year so far, I am optimistic for the future. I made my rockstar dream happen, I was the KING of Irvington for a month, I finished Canal Square in great fashion, I began marketing myself , and I landed the current SAILOR JERRY gig. I managed to find time to start blogging weekly.. or bi-weekly.. or once a month.. whatever. I also believe I was instrumental in bringing my dad and brother back together after a 10 year feud... Not a bad year.

Now I am ready for the next step. In 2012, I am going to work even harder to get my work in front of as many people as I can. I will be entering the Irvington Halloween Contest again (and from now on). I think there even may be a reprise of 11-11-11 this summer.

2011 was definitely my year, but I can't get lazy basking in the glow- I have got to keep at it and keep creating. 
Yep- 2012 is gonna be a great year.

T

By the way, I snapped a shot of the current progress of SAILOR JERRY #2 on my way out the door today.. Below.. not a great shot, but aint my pinup girl sexy?? 

BUSY BUSY BUSY times at NEALARTISTRY right now!
With wall number 1 of the SAILOR JERRY SERIES completed, I have begun work on the second design- this one for THE BEER SELLAR. Looks great so far! I am still fine tuning the design and hammering out the final details with the man in charge over there, but I should have this one wrapped up by the end of the year!

Also, want to say THANKS to my friends at COUNTYTALK.NET for talking me up in a great feature article on their website. Make sure you make your way over there and BOOKMARK THAT SITE! This is THE PLACE to go to stay on the pulse with all things Hamilton County.. They are just getting started, and there are nothing but great things in their future. Best of luck, ladies!

http://countytalk.net/2011/local-muralist-transforms-the-ordinary-into-extraordinary

T 

It was a looooong day on Saturday at the SINKING SHIP, but I was able to finish up my first in the SAILOR JERRY series. I was a little worried early on in the day because I was getting bogged down in some of the detail. It was taking a little longer than I was expecting and I was getting impatient. Amazing what a step back and a deep breath can do to improve your frame of mind.

Very pleased with how this one came together and eager to start work on the next one!
Now, on to the BEEER SELLAR!

T

Hope everyone had a great holiday!  I sure did..

In fact, I'm pretty exhausted from packing about 2 week's worth of activity into 4 days. Lots of fun with family and friends.. Nothing will take it out of you faster than some OLD WORLD PARTYING- we ate! we drank! we danced! we sang! There were hoola-hoops, bonfires, and the longest railroad crossing stop of my life (12 minutes!! No lie!!).

All that, and I managed to get a lot of work done on SAILOR JERRY WALL #1 at THE SINKING SHIP. Turning out great so far, and it looks like I'll be finishing up this weekend at this pace.

Stay tuned-
T

2 entries in one week.. WHOA! I'm a little dizzy..

Just wanted to drop the news that I will be doing my first SAILOR JERRY MURAL  at THE SINKING SHIP (what are the odds of that?). The final wall design is below. HAPPY! HAPPY!

Have a great holiday all!
T

Well.. after months of planning and preparation, my plate is empty again. TIME TO FILL IT BACK UP!!
The birthday festivities this year included a ONE NIGHT ONLY performance of my experiment in ROCK- The 11-11-11 PROJECT. Wow! best.. Night.. Ever.. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful and talented friends. I definitely don't surround myself with slackers.  We rocked the place down and had a blast doing it!

Now, time to focus on getting some more exposure for the MURALS..
 First off, my friends at COUNTY TALK  (http://countytalk.net/) are running a SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE featuring yours truly. These ladies have really inspired me to keep at it- really takes guts to go out on your own, especially in the current economic climate. They are still shaking out the bugs, but their online mag will be a welcome addition to my FAVORITES and I have great confidence that they will be able to make it work!

I have a couple potential projects cooking right now- Biggest of which is this multi-wall deal for SAILOR JERRY RUM where I would be putting SJ-style tattoo artwork on the walls of several bars around town. Couple of prelims below. This one couldn't be more in-line with my style **fingers crossed**.

Until next time-
T

What a frantic couple of weeks!! Prepping for the IRVINGTON HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL was just the tip of it.. Last week ended with my big Halloween function for my YP networking group, The Arrows, on Thursday night, our big Halloween party at home on Friday night, then down to Irvington bright and early (and I DO mean early!) the next morning, and then band practice the next day... whew! It was a mess o' stresss, but it was worth it! Everything went great- for Thursday night, we did the shop up as The Overlook Hotel (from The Shining) and it looked great. Friday was rough, but we got the walk-through finished in the basement (big hit) and my blacklight dancefloor painted (also a big hit- pics on Facebook).  Then Irvington was a fantastic success- Beautiful weather, interesting people, and JACK was a big hit. I will definitely be back next year!

Here is a shot of me with my painting- almost finished.

Now.. onward to November activities!

WHO WANTS TO HAVE SOME HALLOWEEN FUN???

I am still in the planning stages of what will actually happen there, but I will definitely have a booth at the festival. I believe it happens down on Washington Street in Irvington- not sure, this is my first year- and runs from 9-5. I will have some of my older prints for sale, and Carole might put together some halloween-themed knick knacks, but the main attraction will be my painting a scaaary mural right there.. live.. so hopefully the weather is nice!

The only trick to this is the date- The festival falls the day after the big halloween party. and setup starts at 6:30 AM!?! Oh well- guess I'll be dosing up on some caffiene.

Come on out and have some halloween fun at the festival and say HI.. I am looking forward to being out there- Just cut me some slack if I am running a little slow that day!

Well, it is official.. They announced the winners of the HISTORIC IRVINGTON HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL  poster contest. My entry placed first and I could not be more excited! Not sure the details of this win yet (besides the cash prize and limited edition print run) but there is something about an auction and space at the actual festival. That could be really cool! I would be meeting LOTS of people if I can swing that- but we'll see how my schedule unfolds. That 2 week span before Halloween in particular is extremely busy normally with the halloween party, the annual camping trip, but even moreso this year with 11-11-11 looming  just after that.

I've got some thinking to do on this- Having booth space at the festival may be too big to pass up,that is some great exposure. I'll need to do some big time mangement to fit it all in..

For right now, though, I think I'll bask a bit.. aaaaaaahh