A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to check out the incredible Harley Davidson Museum while creating a Sailor Jerry Tattoo live for their event called Mama Tried.
Last winter I had the pleasure of meeting the group of Sailor Jerry’s Ambassadors while they were enjoying a group trip to Jackson. I was setting up my show at The Rose in Jackson when they walked in to check out my artwork being hung. After some words and a few emails later we had decided on the venue for my art to take place.
The morning of the event Mama Tried we drove all over Milwaukee getting all of my supplies together since you can’t travel with my medium of choice. Luckily it was pretty easy to find what I needed although the weather wasn’t exactly ideal for what I was brought to Milwaukee to do. The temperatures were in the 30’s and the wind was nasty that day but I should be grateful that it wasn’t pouring rain instead. There were a few times that the wind came whipping through that I thought I might have to start all over but I gave myself a little bit of a window to work with if something were to happen.
Most of the time the only place I can do public art is outside due to it being gunpowder and an open flame at the end of each unique piece. Fire Marshals are not too keen on me lighting my pieces on fire inside a building, even if the fire is pretty tame.
The event was called Fire and Ice which featured my gunpowder artwork while another artist created an ice sculpture during the event. Harley Davidson brings a certain type of crowd and I must say the heart and dedication of these individuals is fun to be around. While people were racing their bikes around the small arena in the courtyard of the Harley Davidson Museum, or enjoying the band inside, or drinking a beer or cocktail around the Sailor Jerry fire-pits, I was meticulously placing gunpowder into the Sailor Jerry's Tiger Tattoo shape. I was under a 10 feet by 10 feet tent for the event and it took about 5 hours to create the tiger tattoo and the burn lasted a few minutes while onlookers got to see the final product burn into the canvas.
The event was a success and we finished the night off with some fried cheese curds and Spotted Cow Beer. Thanks to Sailor Jerry and Harley-Davidson my wife and I got to experience the best Milwaukee had to offer and we had a blast!
Check out the burn here: