We have had much luck with this over the years. It is not for the faint of heart so remember to tighten your belt and keep moving forward. Yesterday morning I was driving down main st. in Middletown. I noticed a new restaurant under construction. It had all the typical promos with paper signs saying coming soon. I decided to walk in and give it a pitch. Visualize a half done restaurant, wood paneling not stained and two gentlemen to the right cutting tile. I asked them if the owner was in and they said no. I then asked what the owners name was and if they had his number. They proceeded to ignore me. (I could have left at this point and no one would have been disappointed, I mean heck I gave it my best effort) I didn’t though. I looked to my left and saw the carpenter. I ask him the same questions and he told me the owner was down the street at the granite and tile shop he owned. I didn’t even know that there was a granite and tile shop down the street (shame on me). (Second chance to go home, and all would be well in the world) I didn’t though. I figured at this point I have started something and I am going to follow it through. So I drive down the street and bang a right down a side street I have never been before. I park and walk into the shop. In front of me is the receptionists desk with the owners wife(which I did not know at this point) and his daughter. He is standing on the opposite side where I am. Now, I am the poster boy for salesmen at this point as I wear my long black biz coat with black gloves and portfolio under the arm. I pretty much look like I am selling advertising.
With a stink eye they ask if they can help me and I reply that I am looking for the owner. He is pointed out and standing directly to my right now. I explain that I just came from their restaurant and that it was beautiful. (stink eye being magnified to full capacity) I go on to tell them that I paint murals and do decorative painting and ask them if they would mind looking at my portfolio. As they flip through my portfolio they start to become interested in what they were seeing and ask questions. This opens the door for me to start conversing and transferring my excitement about what I do. With the contagiousness of my excitement I can start to see the wheel spinning in their minds and their excitement increasing. We chat for a while and I ask them if they would mind bringing me over to the restaurant to see if we can add something to it with our artistic flair. (also I dropped the line that most restaurant are rated on how good their murals and decorative painting are) One of the ideas that they had was creating a giant stone grotto behind the bar. Coincidentally, we had just started learning and working with vertical concrete and this seemed like the perfect portfolio piece to get started with! My foreman Mike and I brought in Bruce from Thalman Designs to create a design layer andlocal decorative painter Holly Whiting jumped in to help. So I had my crew together and just needed a product to use. I called my friends at ProFaux who have come out with a new line of vertical concrete. They hooked me up as only they could and we got started. When finished I think the owner was almost as impressed as we were! This was a great project to be able to do and has opened our horizons to the world of concrete. We had the opportunity to pick out the color palette for the restaurant as well as create several beautiful wall finishes and some nice murals.
