Well, here is another one.. I am really having a good time with this! It's great to have a steady outlet for my need to make walls pretty. Tricky one here- the owners of WHISKEY BUSINESS wanted some non-jerry items incorporated, but I think this works really well. I wanted to make the pinup girl a little bigger, but I have been careful to try to keep the SJ bottle the focus of each piece. My SJ labels keep improving, though.. I think at this point I could draw one with my eyes closed.
Jason says he has my next walls set for BUBBAZ (I think it is with a Z) on Washington and up on Olio Road.
BRING IT ON!!
T

The festivities in Indy were unbelievable! We, of course, waited until the absolute height of it and went downtown saturday night for a Pacers game. Indy went all out (or all in) for the SUPER BOWL and killed it! With a couple of small exceptions: We've got to have a better solution for the TRASH- it was everywhere.. sure there was a trash can on every corner, but that does little good when they are so overflowing that they look like big garbage pyramids! And the taxi situation.. not handled well. I don't even know how it was handled exactly, but whatever the plan was- it was the wrong plan! The big pickup stations on either side of the main village area were completely overrun, and we were told "sorry, no cabs".. Seriously? NO TAXIS?? but I digress.. other than those 2 points, GREAT JOB INDY!!
Also had our first practice back with the group! 11-11-11 returns! Solid start on some new songs and ready for more. It was great to get some mic time in, although I was still a little shredded from screaming at the PACERS on Saturday night!
And lastly, SAILOR JERRY #3 was started over the weekend. Got a LOT done on this one in just one day.. Interesting crowd at WHISKEY BUSINESS- with a pretty diverse taste in music. Jukebox played: country song, country song, country song,country song,country song, LUCKY STAR- MADONNA.. Couldn't help but laugh at that one! But a lot of very nice people watching the process or coming up to ask questions as I work- Love creating art in front of an audience. I'll be back out there tomorrow night to get some more work done.. Maybe even finish- this one is going pretty quickly! 

Well.. Here comes another one. The final color draft has been approved and I am ready to get started on number 3! Final draft and superimposed copy below. Went with the classic pinup girl again (Getting really good at these girls!), but they wanted some other elements included that aren't normally associated with the SAILOR JERRY brand of artwork. That slowed me down a bit, but I think this final design works really well.

Can't wait to get started!
T

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