November 2013

It was a miserable day -windy, cloudy and in the low forties. In a few days temperatures would go down to the low twenties and the "It's up to us" mural project would be halted until next spring. But I did not know this then and my only focus was on finishing the mural. There had been all kinds of delays and my goal of completing the job by the end of the month had become a far reality. But I had two more weeks to give it a go, assuming the weather held above freezing. It was late morning when Brian Archer stopped by. Brian was a news videographer and multi-media journalist working for Channel 5 Cleveland. I knew who he was because of his work but had never met him, until this cold morning.

	Brian Archer, Channel 5 Cleveland

Brian saw us working on the mural and figured it would make a good story. So after a brief introduction, he told me that he would like to come later to shoot a piece. I said okay and went back to work. I was on a race against time and wanted to finish the mural before cold temperatures set in. What I wasn't counting was on him coming back that very same day! You have to understand, I was not at my "pretty peak". My hands and my jaw were frozen, my ears were ringing a storm (I suffer from tinnitus) and my head was about to explode. I was exhausted and not in the best of moods. I figured Brian was going to shoot video of the mural to later add sound-bytes in editing. But Brian did a full interview which he filmed by my storage pod in hopes that it would shield us from the worse of the wind. I could barely move my lips without the skin cracking. Worse, I did not like doing interviews unless I first know the questions in advance. I like to think things through and be prepare. But not on this day. Publicity is a must in my line of work and even in your worse days you have to do your best and move forward.

Brain was great. I managed to make it through without slurring too many words and even managed to put a coherent thought or two together. Below are two videos -all credits to Brain Archer and Channel 5 Cleveland. The first one is Brian's edited version which was broadcasted on the News. The second video is the entire interview without edits. I think you will find them interesting, but remember what I said earlier so you can take pity on me. Now that I think about it, most interviews I had were done in the worse days! As for the project, we stopped a few days after this segment was filmed when November temperatures dropped sharply and the paint in our hand containers froze. I had had enough! That's when I gave the order to close down the operation and cursed the incompetent city bureaucrats responsible for weeks of delays. The mural was finally finished the following June of 2014. To learn more about this project -which was voted Public Art of the Year and one of Cleveland's must-visit "Instagrammable" sites, go to the 'Murals' link on the Menu. Enjoy the videos.

Brian's television broadcast segment:

Full unedited interview:

Thank you art lovers for visiting Muralmaster. I leave you with a parting gift, a quote from American writer Dale Carnegie: "Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire?"