You know... I'm just a one-man show. I do all of the marketing, updates to my website, accounting, taxes, purchasing, mixing of paint, painting of murals... and making phone calls. It isn't glamourous, but I do enjoy what I do... mostly. Plus, because my home office is sometimes in the dedicated office; sometimes in the kitchen; and a lot of the time in the bedroom on a card table... it gives me a lot of time to be with my kids while they are growing up, and love it. When I was growing up, my dad would be gone long before before I'd wake up.. and I remember I couldn't wait for him to arrive home from work so we could play catch with the baseball. My kids see me so much that they can't wait for me to fly out again on another painting trip. Nah... I don't take it personal. I sometimes can't wait to leave either.
I commute to work a couple of times a month by catching a ride (from my wife) to the airport and then taking a flight to various locations somewhere between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Can I just say right now that Houston in the middle of summer is not the perfect place for me? Winter is great... but not summer! :-)
So, what I am getting at (finally) is this... I work my little painting business from the, sometimes, comfort of my home, where kids are screaming (did I mention they are home schooled and home all the time?) or wanting my attention, my wife is always close by with her long list of honey-do's... and a dog that needs a little attention now and then. So how is it that these national media outlets like the Robb Report's "Luxury Homes" magazine, Angie's List magazine, Affluent magazine, HGTV, the Fine Living network and then this week, Unique Homes magazine all find out about me? Dang, I've even had an Interior Decorator, who has a national Home Improvement show, tell me that whenever I'm in her area... to let her know because she wants to put me (my product really) on the show. Now I'm thinking that that could be really detrimental to my business if I were to appear (Maybe I can hire an actor to play my part???).
By nightskymurals at 2010-10-25
Now I'm not complaining in the least. I love the exposure from these outlets... and I have worked my backside off to create a great product and to keep my customers happy. But as I think back on all of the great exposure... it blows me away. I mean, I have no real talent... not even at art, yet I make a living as an artist and I get written up in national publications and on TV. What a country!
But, let me say this - when it comes to creating a realistic, star-filled night sky... I will challenge any "real" artist to paint a better mural than this "non-artist" can. But, the challenge only extends to the night sky. After that... my 5 year old can run circles around me in artistic ability.
So, thanks to all of the media outlets for the confidence to run your articles and video spots about my company! I don't understand it... but I love it and I'll take it any day!
Here is the latest from Unique Homes magazine...
Unique Homes magazine article
Hey... why hasn't Oprah called yet?
I am often asked, "What was your inspiration for creating your starry-night murals?" Or, "When did your interest in the night sky begin?"
Well, the fact is that the "when" and "where" happened at the same time. And, I want to share it with you here... and try to show you want I saw so long ago that totally stunned me.
It happened when I was about 8 years old (way back in 1969) when we were camping in the Redwoods in California. My dad had grown up working on his grandparents pack station as a youngster... and he would take us to those same mountains when we were growing up too.
(The campsite where we used to camp as we grew up. Now, I take my kids there to enjoy the same experience I did as a child. For me... I enjoy this forest, today, the same as I did years ago.)
On this particular night, we'd gone to bed early to be rested and ready to get down to the lake to fish at first light. When we went to bed (fairly early) there were camp fires casting their light on the pines and redwoods, as did the many lanterns from our camp, as well as the other campsites all around us. And, with all of the light bouncing off of the trees that surrounded us, the night sky wasn't very noticeable. It was only a slightly better than what we were used to seeing at night in the city.
(This is a picture looking up through the pines and redwoods where we used to camp. And, this is the same area of sky where I first saw the night sky on a very dark night with no light pollution around us)
Well, that was when we went to sleep at about 9 PM. But, at about 2 AM, when I woke up for some reason... I saw, for the first time in my life, a real night sky. One that was so full of bright stars, the Milky Way galaxy, shooting stars and satellites that it caught me off guard and it scared me for a short time.
If you have never been to a dark location; If you are only used to seeing a handful of constellations because they have the only stars bright enough to be visible through the light pollution in and around a decent sized city; and, if you have never seen the Milky Way stretch across a night sky without having to squint and search long and hard... then this will seem a little strange to you.
That's because in and around city lights... the thousands of smaller stars that are visible everywhere in a dark sky are not visible. So, only the brightest stars (those in the constellations along with a handful of others) are the only stars that are visible. But, get far enough out of town, away from all of the street lights and other lights that go along with making a city safe... and you realize that those few constellations that you are used to seeing... are such a small part of what it really up there.
That is what happened to me that night so long ago. At about 2 AM, something woke me up. And, as I opened my eyes and looked up through the tree branches, my eyes beheld something that I had never seen before. At first, fright is what I felt. Then, as I realized what I was seeing, the fright was changed to amazement and wonderment. WOW, I said in my mind!
(This is a picture that I created, using the same picture of looking through the trees that I posted above... to give an example of what I saw that night when I was 8 years old. The only thing missing is the Milky Way that was there.)
OK, there you have it. This is where and when it all started for me. This sight that I saw back in the day... stayed with me throughout my life. And, I always wanted to see that night sky again. I'd go back up to camp in the same mountains, but it seemed that I could only go when the moon was out. The sky was still nice, but it still washed out thousands of stars. So, there had to be a way to create that same sky for people who lived in the city... and the idea for Night Sky Murals was born.
I will say that the "which way to go about doing the ceilings" isn't my own. It came from a company that is no longer in business. (I'd seen a very basic mural on a ceiling almost 30 years ago... and I knew that I could do that, and do it much better.) I started right away to try my hand at creating a night sky... and boy, did I fail. But, I kept at it and tried again and again.
The murals got better and friends started wanting me to paint one for them too. They would make comments and suggestions and I would implement their ideas (the good ones, that is). That went on for years and the murals just kept getting better until I was offered money to paint one. That was very cool. I did more and more murals, listened to suggestions, implemented them and then started painting again. Today, there are no murals of the night sky as realistic as a Night Sky Mural... and I have only my friends and former customers to thank for being unafraid to make suggestions.
