Strength in Unity

Initial Sketch - The whole idea for the project. Started with a doodle and then it grew rapidly from there.

Glueing photos down to the 5 sheets of Plywood - The base of the mural was made up of black and white photos I've taken over the years in NJ. The mural was to be painted live in one day so this was prepped before hand to save time

Painting some background texture - My artwork is a mixture of layered photos and typography. Some of the background text in this piece was from a Bruce Springsteen speech at the Rock and Roll hall of fame.

Starting to build on the color - An important detail of this mural for me was to paint it out on the boardwalk near the ocean. It wasn't an ideal setting, but it was important to be surrounded by the elements of a Mid Atlantic winter while creating this piece

Talking with the Press - It's been wonderful the amount of press coverage this project has been receiving. It was on 3 different TV stations evening news - so I was a very minor local celebrity for a few days.

Sketching the lettering - Once all the background texture/color was laid down. It was time to sketch out the lettering STRENGTH IN UNITY.

Working on the details - My favorite parts of these larger scaled projects is when it finally comes together.

Finished… sort of - The completed mural was just the start of this project. Now we had to dismantle, remove it from the boardwalk, cut it up, frame, photograph and sell.

Framing (in the warm shop) - My dad and I worked for almost 3 days cutting and framing the pieces. We ended up building a pretty useful jig to help make the process run a bit smoother and faster.

Final Product - The pieces are now all cut, framed and available for bidding via eBay Charitable auction. All money will be donated to Waves for Water once the auction is complete.