Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Ryan sits down with Jared Emerson

Episode Date: December 9, 2019

In this episode of the Radical Company podcast, Ryan sits down with world-renowned speed painter Jared Emerson. Jared shares his journey and growth as an artist and the lessons and struggles he overcame to become one of the most sought after speed painters in the United States. Jared shares his experiences painting NFL legend Jerry Rice to his most recent work painting shoes for Carson Wentz and the My Cause My Cleats program from the NFL. Links from this Episode: Jared's Website - https://jaredemerson.com/ NFL My Cause My Cleats - https://www.nfl.com/mycausemycleats If you enjoy this episode please check out the rest of our episodes on our channel. Please share, review, and subscribe! Radical Podcast is always looking forward to meeting both aspiring, and grounded professionals across the country! Feel like you have something to say? Slide us a Dm on Instagram and let's make it happen! @radical_results @ryanalford www.radical.company If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

What's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radical Company Podcast. We're in the holiday season. It's December and I'm late buying gifts, but nonetheless, we are here in the studio at Camaraderie ready for another episode, which I have been wanting to do for a while. Jared doesn't know that, but world-renowned artist, speed painter, Jared Emerson's here with me today. And I've been wanting to do this for a while. I've't know that, but a world renowned artist, speed painter, Jared Emerson's here with me today. And I've been wanting to do this for a while. I've known Jared for a couple of years through local, different local things that we've been involved in. Um, but this guy's so hard to pin down cause he's taken off like a rocket. Jared, man, really excited to have you on the episode today. Thanks for having me, man. This is, this is pretty cool. And, uh, appreciate

that intro. nice i know well we're uh we've got both audio and video we're looking at uh one of uh jared's paintings here on the cruise a little different haircut but uh jared was sharing some stuff pre-episode here some of his stuff i'm i'm in envy i mean before we kind of get into the story and all that i'm you know being a nfl junkie and all that, I, we got to talk, we're painting shoes for my man,

Carson Wentz. Yeah. Yeah. Right now we've, I've been, uh, man, the last,

last couple of days have been brutal. I mean, they've been great from a creative standpoint, but, uh, yeah, I customized Carson's shoes for him. And to me,

it's, it's, it's a great thing to do because I also believe in what he believes in and his purpose and point with just telling people about Jesus and loving people. I mean, he's got a food truck in Philly and he feeds people for free.

Like, how awesome is that? And it's legit, really, you know, good food. So he has me do different different cleats for him each year and this year this is the third pair for him and then i'm doing about nine other of the players so from zack arts to different guys on the team so sweet i want to get into everyone you've painted and been involved in a lot of the bigger names in sports i know you're getting involved with some of the just amazing people you've been able to either be in front of or paint uh definitely want to get into that but uh

you know i told you this you know from we like to have rad people doing rad things and i on the on the who's list of my speed dial of who i go or walk by or see periodically, you're on that list, man. Man, I appreciate that. It's just something about the speed painting that blows my mind, your talent, your ability, how down to earth you are. There's just some characteristics about you that I think are really unique, and starting with your talent. Thank you.

I appreciate that. Yeah, I'd love to just start there maybe a little bit for people listening, giving that kind of synopsis on you, your background, what got you into art and the arts, and some of those philosophies that we've talked about in how you paint and what kind of keeps you moving. Wow, that's a lot. You know, what keeps me moving is I think every day just coming

up with new concepts and ideas. And I think you hit, especially where I am in my career now, it's like you, I don't want to say hit a wall, but you come to a point where you're like, okay, what's the next best thing? What's the next thing I need to do? I mean, my story is kind of long, so if you've got a lot of time, we'll get deep in. But I've been doing art professionally for about, I want to say, 17, 18 years. Yeah. And moved to West Palm Beach. I'm originally from Michigan, a Perry, Michigan small town between Lansing and Flint, and ended up migrating down to West Palm Beach after college,

and then from there moved here to Greenville. So basketball was a big part of my life, because I know you love sports. Oh, yeah. And, you know, I had that kid childhood dream of just becoming that athlete, and, you know, Michael Jordan was the guy that I looked to, you know, growing up. And, you know, I was just like, man, if I could be like Mike, like that would be ridiculous. But as I grew and got older,

I realized that basketball was for all the wrong reasons. It was, and I was pretty good back in the day. Now I think I'm an old man and can't quite keep up anymore. Were you a shooting guard, a point guard? I was a point guard and shooting guard. what uh i was a point guard okay and shooting guard you know i would i would play the point and then pass it to myself and then no i'm just you were that kid yeah no no um yeah i was i was pretty decent and then in college uh ended up blowing my knee tore my acl and that kind of just took my dreams away so when you think of

ambitions and hopes and I felt like everything just went away so I spent a few years trying to figure out what I'm gonna do in my life and college wasn't really the thing I wanted to do and because I didn't know what I was gonna do and so I became an artist and it wasn wasn't until I got into it, I think it was figuring out, okay, now how do you make a living at it, and man, I think it's kind of crazy, because you do, I think I told you earlier, like you do portraits and stuff when you start out, I mean, they don't say star of an artist for a reason because there's a lot of talented people in this world and with that talent also you have to figure that out i mean from an ad agency standpoint you know the marketing the business side you gotta

you gotta kind of embrace that and learn that too besides the creativity but a lot of artists i think can't or don't because, you know, they're just so involved with their creativity process. And that's why you see a lot of artists, they need someone that guides them. Like I have a manager, I have an assistant, I have people surrounding me to make me better and encourage me and uplift me and push me and drive me. So when I get to a point where I'm like, they're like, listen listen you got this or just get your mind right and we'll get back to it so and then taking care of you know people paperwork you know all that kind of stuff it's not something artists want to deal with no so um i think for for for me

getting into it at the time was just like man how did you how do you do it so I was doing portraits for people for 100 bucks you know take me three four weeks you know and little pencil sketches and I'm like you can't make a living doing this right I mean you can but I'm gonna be on the streets yeah big time so it wasn't until I actually got into uh the speed painting I think things just kind of took off but um my pastor at my church which is here locally in uh simpsonville brookwood he was like you know jerry you're talented at what you do you should paint on stage and i was like are you crazy like you know that was a thing yeah i mean i did i did there was a guy named denny dent in the 70s and 80s that was a speed painter

yeah you know they got all these brushes in their hands. And you're watching. You can go on YouTube and check different ones. And now there's, I mean, there's a ton of guys. I shouldn't say a ton. There's a lot of guys and girls that do the speed painting. You know, I don't think anyone does it quite like me. I'm probably a little biased maybe.

There's definitely a flair to you. I mean, I've seen enough of them now, now you know that there's a flair and a style and a energy with your shows and i call them a show i mean but and whether or not you like that term but i a performance yeah show a performance yeah um you know one of my close friends uh he always says it's a gift, right? Because I believe God gives us all gifts, and it's what we do with them. And not just what we do with them, but how we impact people through them. And that's why I'm thankful that I'm in the genre that I'm in, you know? Just being able to create and do it in front of people.

Because before when I started, when I was doing these portraits, I want to be in my own little world, secluded, creating. I don't want anyone to see what I'm doing. Let me just do it. And then I got to this transition of when he asked me to paint on stage, I'm like, that's crazy.

It's a complete 180, I think. Coming up in graphic design and arts and all that, graphic designers or artists, just like what you just said, they like to get in their corner and do their masterpiece or their average piece or whatever it ends up being. Right. And then show everyone. This is like a 180. Yeah, like check out what I did. Yeah, look what I did.

What was this? And then when you're is transparent and vulnerable of showing that art real time that's a whole different thing it is and i think that's one thing that scared me to death right okay how do i let people watch me do what i do like what if i screw up what if i mess up but then you learn the process of studying preparing yourself and i think that's like anything um one of my close friends george hincapie he's i mean cyclist 17 tour de frances like we've become close over the years and one thing that i think just by knowing him that he taught me was like you don't just get on a bike like it's a lot of work yeah and it's a lot of suffering it's a lot of pain but if you're

gonna do it you have to it, you have to train. You have to train, and you have to get better and better, and you have to push yourself. It's the same with meeting a lot of pro athletes from the NFL and NBA and MLB. Seeing the backsides of these guys and even some local guys is like you see the hard work that they put in to get there. It's like when you watch LeBron on TV or back in the day, Michael Jordan. They don't just show up on Sunday.

Yeah, they don't just show up on Sunday. It's like Cristiano Ronaldo, right? You have, and Messi. You have different guys that when you see they're at the top of their game, they're usually the last guy in the gym, the first guy there, right? And so for me, I've taken all that energy because I can say I was a lazy artist, right?

I was a lazy artist, and you can't get anywhere being lazy. So I learned that you have to have a good work ethic. And I always say this, in the words of the great lyricist Macklemore, right? Oh, boy. In one of his songs, he says, the greats were great because they paint a lot. Now, he didn't say they're great because they're talented, they're gifted, and all this other stuff. He greats were great because they paint a lot. Now, he didn't say they're great because they're talented, they're gifted, and all this other stuff. He said they're great because they paint a lot.

And if you look at some of the greats, I mean, they have bodies of work, and a lot of them have works that a lot of people have never seen. It's because they work hard at what they're doing. So I realize from friends and these other athletes, what they put into it is like hey I wasn't I was a lazy basketball player too back in the day I thought I was just more talented so I wouldn't work as hard but you have to work hard and these guys that show up on Sunday they work hard to get to that point so I realized for me I'm going to be the best artist I can be and I and I want to be I want

to be the best speed painter there is out there I want people to say this guy's ridiculous but it doesn't mean that I have to be the best out there does that make sense I'm gonna strive to be the best but if I'm not I'm still gonna give it my all I'm still gonna keep going and it's the same when I get up and perform if I think I'm gonna mess up or screw up then I probably shouldn't be up there yeah but if I know and I'm confident enough to get this done but I'm prepared in the process then hey it's it is the most how do I how do I put this when I get up there I'm anxious I'm nervous I'm a wreck usually but once I get up there and stand in front front of that canvas, like nobody's there.

It's just like an experience. I'm in my own world. But that's a gift. And I just go, and I just go. Yeah, and I love it. Now, I don't think this, but Picasso said this. I heard this from a great artist in town, Rick Standridge. He always said, Picasso, when he looked at a canvas,

there was a war going on between him and the canvas. And usually the canvas always won. Right. Unless you were Picasso. Right. I think he won his fair share. Right. So to me, it always was, I've kept that in the forefront of my mind.

So when I get up there, it's like, hey, here's this battle. If I don't win, like I got to give it my all. But the challenge is i'm gonna i'm gonna try to win each time yeah if that makes total sense so um it's yes it's it's been awesome to do i think do what you love do what you're passionate about um but most importantly um you know have a purpose in it too yeah so I know I want to talk about some of your experiences and some specific people, cause there's some big names that you've painted and, you know, have the opportunity to be in front of it. They've had the opportunity to watch you. Uh,

but talk about, you know, you talked about making a living. You talked about that mindset switch, you know, maybe for someone that might be listening because we do have a lot of artists and different people that listen you know it's kind of the chicken yeah give me i mean can't hire a manager till you make money can't make money till you have a man like how did when did that switch kind of happen for you was it finding that niche of speed painting which then opened a lot of doors? Because that's not—it may be more prevalent now, but 10, 15 years ago when you first started, I don't think it was as mainstream, if it's even mainstream now. But when was that switch for you?

So I think that switch for me—so I'm a man that I believe in God, right? I believe that he died for my sins and yours and everyone else's. I believe in God, right? I believe that he died for my sins and yours and everyone else's. And for me, there was a struggle of, God, what do you want me to do with my life, right? And, again, just like basketball, I had hopes and dreams and ambitions to be successful, famous, this, this, this, right? And I realized that that's, you know, you can have it all and it can all be taken away, but you're still going to be you, and you're still going to going to be you and you're still going to have to live and you're still going to have to go and survive.

So I think I tried to figure out, okay, if I'm going to do this, I got to be the best at it. And I'm going to keep working hard. So first was what I just, just told y'all about, um, working hard and putting that work ethic in. And the second part is, okay, how do you sell painting? Like you do a painting, how do you sell it you sell it well you have to you do have to market it you have to push it out thankfully i haven't had to as much but i before speed painting and people don't watch you do the process you got to bring the process to them right you got to bring the artwork to them and show so i i i think it was that transition of okay if i'm going to get into the speed painting thing, like I saw that video of Denny Dent, and they have a guy that comes here at Greenville.

He's come for a long time. So I was like, okay, I could do this, but let me be the best at it. And then the first time I did it, I had a few brushes. I actually tore my MCL the week before I did my first speed painting, right, which was at church. And I was a mess. I went up there, I was hobbling, right? I think there's a YouTube video you can watch if you just search my name. Not something I'm very proud of, right? Not something I'm very proud of, but through that process, like I said, being scared to death, it took me to a transition of, hey, this is what I have for you. So I believe it was God telling me, okay, listen,

you've been searching for all these things your entire life. If you just listen to me and go down the path I have for you, it'll blow your mind. And I can literally say that it has blown my mind. I have done more than I have ever dreamed or envisioned. Like, I've always wanted to play basketball at the Palace of Auburn Hills with the Pistons, you know? But that dream never happened. But guess what?

I was able to perform with B.O.B. at a halftime show at the Palace of Auburn Hills. So instead of shooting hoops, I was throwing paint. Like how cool, you know what I mean? That transition, how cool is that? So in that moment when I realized God showed up for me and said, listen, here's a path I have laid out for you. I'm looking at it like, I don't know what this looks like.

I don't know if I can continue to do this, but this is where I'm going to go. And once I made that commitment, I feel like God's always protected me, right? He's always provided for me. He's always taken me there. So to answer your question, you have to work hard. You get going, right?

Then you start selling stuff. People see what you're doing, and they get interested in what you're doing. And I think more than just the art, I think people are, like even yourself, you've said just the process and the performance, you see that. It's intriguing to people. I mean, the Radical Podcast, you know what I mean? When I think about it, even though it's me and I do it, from people's perspective, it's pretty radical, right?

It's a pretty cool thing to be able to do. And I've done it from the biggest arenas in the world, some of the biggest arenas in the world, to a small little party with five people. Those are more nerve-wracking, though, the five people versus the thousands of people. You feel like every stroke is under, like, one person's looking at each stroke. Yeah, every little thing. So, you know, and then once you keep going, it just happens.

But to give you a little example of that, like, I did a painting on a yacht. It was Rick Hendricks yacht. It's like a $100 million yacht, right? So this guy named Clint Boyer, NASCAR driver, called me up one day and he said, man, I want to do something nice for this buddy of theirs, which he does very well. I won't say his name, but I guess a billionaire.

And what do you get a billionaire right so he's like i figured i'd call you i'm gonna get him jared emerson i'm like that's a good tagline what do you get a guy that already has everything get a me we'll do a painting and just have fun right there's some truth to that yeah so um he was like man we're going on the shot you know so-and-so's coming so-and-so's coming so i would end up being on the yacht i'm there and um guy fieri was there emerald legassi was there clint and jimmy john um so i'm like you know these guys have done some big stuff but they're all food guys right right they were cooking catfish on the side they're like jared can we help you with your canvas and stuff

and i'm like no but i'll take some of that catfish, which was an amazing experience. But in doing that, I was a nervous wreck. I'm on this yacht. The crew was freaking out, but I'm trying to prepare. So I had to paint a logo, and then I had to paint, I think I painted Jimmy John's kids. So the kids are there, three kids.

I got to paint them with my fingers. It's kind of dark out. We're on a yacht. And I'm like nervous wreck. But I just get into it, right? And literally two, three feet away, or probably five feet away to the side, Emeril's just sitting there, you know,

and didn't move at all. He was just so intrigued by seeing that paint being moved with the finger. Like it was just crazy. And every once in a while i'd be like bam just playing but um talk about nerve-wracking experience how did it turn out but also it was great i think it turned out great you know i'm always a skeptic on myself like i wanted to be a little better this but they they loved it turned out great out great. Clint was happy. And it was just a pretty neat experience of how you can go from some of these big things. It was a big thing, but it was a small group of people and a little more intimate.

So you get to meet people in those settings as well, which is pretty cool. I know you've painted. We talked about Carson Wentz and doing the shoes now, but Jerry Rice, you want to talk about, let's talk about some of the other athletes you've, you know, been around and so, um, yeah, Jerry Rice, I actually, the BMW pro-am, um, I don't know, this was, I don't know, nine years ago, 10 years ago, maybe 11. I don't know. It's been a minute, but, um, I think my first athlete I painted, performed that was there watching was Jerry Rice. And it was pretty cool because just this past year we did a cruise ship with the 49ers, so I do a lot of different cruise performances

from K-Love, 49ers, Steelers, Green Bay Packers. We're trying to get more teams to do some different things. But it's been pretty neat just to meet a lot of these guys. But Jerry was just on the 49ers crew, so I did another painting with him. When you think of the greatest of all time in a sport, he's the name you think of when it comes to football and wide receivers, right? When you think of quarterbacks, you think of, what, Joe Namath? You think of Bradybacks you think of what joe namath you think of brady brady tom brady yeah um you probably think of a bunch of others i don't want to upset

anybody out there yeah you got yeah you got a lot of guys that are amazing so just having conversation with these guys i think as an artist in my creative process like I think of what they do. And I actually watched a movie, I think it was Jerry's in it, Wayne Gretzky and someone else, but they're talking to them about the aspects of sports and what makes you great at what you did. And I think each of those guys would probably tell you, I don't think I was great, like i wasn't the fastest i wasn't the strongest i wasn't this but what i was is i worked at my craft right like jerry told me his dad would used to throw him bricks and he catch bricks and then he told me that he would at night in the dark he would just toss the football up and catch it toss it up and catch it. So he understood the feel of the ball.

Wayne Gretzky, if you watch this portion, he talks about as a kid, he would watch the hockey game on TV, right? And he would just follow. He would get a pad of paper and a pen, and he would just follow the puck and just follow the puck where it went through the whole game. And then at the end, he would look at his scribbles, and where he had the most scribbles, that's where the puck is the went through the whole game. And then at the end, he would look at his scribbles, and where he had the most scribbles, that's where the puck is the majority of the time, right? I'm listening to this going, that's pretty cool.

Like when you think of the creative aspect to that, so he figured out, okay, this is where the puck goes. And he'll tell you I wasn't the fastest, I wasn't strong, but based on angles and everything else, I know where the puck's going to be. And even though I'm probably not the fastest, based on the angles, I'm going to get to the puck faster, right? I'm going to know how to get to the puck. And he said probably that my greatest strength was my creativity. And so as an artist, I truly wholeheartedly believe that your creativity will get you very far.

Albert Einstein, right? One of the greatest quotes to me, he said, is creativity is far better than knowledge. I'm sorry, not creativity. He said imagination is far better than knowledge. Which imagination, when you take, not saying knowledge isn't good, because knowledge is everything, right? But when you take the imagination and isn't good because knowledge is everything right but when you take the imagination and expand that knowledge what can it do yeah knowledge can be learned creativity and imagination is unique to any individual right right so you know as an artist it's that imagination creativity that you that you uh continue to build inside of you and then let it

out is what really i think impacts people impacts yourself too in the process because you might like i might be in the studio one day and just be like scribbling or thinking of something or trying to figure something out and then it's like it clicks and i'm like whoa like this is good and then there's other times where i'm like man i'm so frustrated I can't think of anything so I find things that inspire me and a lot of things that inspire me are first of all God inspires me to just keep keep working hard but also music I listen to all kinds of music so it just depends sometimes on my mood. You like Kanye's new album? I do, actually. I do. Yeah.

Talking about God, I mean, what a switch he's made. Yeah, it's a big switch. And, you know, I think, first of all, as a Christian, you want to believe that he's real with it and everything else, and I think it's huge. Yeah. And I think he is. I truly think he is i truly think he is and uh you know we all have

our own uh i think ways of living life and how we do things and um but i yeah i think it's pretty cool but yeah the albums i bump it a little bit in the studio yeah here and there i'm enjoying it we play it here a lot at uh nice offices but uh so lots of inspiration what's you've had so many opportunities and you know now the doors that have been open talk what's been your there's a favorite if there's a or like you know some of the opportunity you know the people you've met the things you've done are on like lots of people's bucket lists but like but for you personally what's been like well i don't know if i'd say there's a favorite. Or maybe one that sticks out more than others.

Like I was telling you, when I go through my phone or I'm looking at different pictures, then I just keep scrolling and scrolling. I'm like, whoa, I forgot I did that or I forgot I did this. There's not a specific moment. I was on this tour called Winter Jam in 2014, and that was pretty epic because you're pretty much in front of crowds over the period of time.

It was a three-month tour, four or five nights a week. Arenas sold out all over. We did the Georgia Dome. Rest in peace to the Georgia Dome since it's not there anymore. Just doing that, it was very impactful, and I think it was just an experience for me that I'll never forget. You know, I'd love to do it again sometime if they want to have me back, but we'll see.

You know, but just even that aspect of maybe even taking on where we do a segment where it's like I do a couple paintings and just entertain people for a few moments with different genres of music and then go into the concerts with the musicians because everyone loves to go to a concert and feel that. Inspiration to me as well when you think of Kanye and his new album, his old albums, when you think of his creative process,

like back in the day I used to think, man, what's up with this guy? But as I've seen him go, whether it's been up or down or whatever, I think he is a genius when it comes to being an artist. Oh, yes. The creative aspect. I also think of Virgil with Louis Vuitton. I mean, he started off white. Right. Just kind of, I guess, in some aspects, the basic concepts. He kind of made new again. Right. Yeah. And I love that. I love I love seeing that.

I know you're getting into more like merchandise and doing, you know, the speed painting I think was like. I mean, a little bit. I want to get into more, but it's just finding the right feel and the right collaboration with whoever. Like I don't make clothes or I don't make, you know, things, but I paint. Like you can go to any clothing store and find paint on jeans,

but, I mean, I've been doing it for 13 years. I didn't used to see that too much. No. Unless you're painting a house, right? That's right, yeah. But I've always worn splatter on my pants, and we've talked to a few people about doing some stuff. It just never has come to fruition because I think it's just my time.

I've been traveling. I've been doing this. I'd love to do that maybe more, collaborate with someone. But when I go on these cruises and travel to different, when we do the tours, we sell small prints of stuff and T-shirts. So right now I want to do a couple hoodies. I got some ideas. How about a radical hoodie? Come in 2021. some ideas so how about a radical coming in 2021

like a radical commission something yeah i can do that no no problem i've been doing some some jean jackets so over the last few years so i got on the cruises um like i'll do like i did a steelers one where i painted the gloves on the back. And like Juju, I did a few paintings like Juju and James Conner and some Mean Joe Green with the Steelers. So I painted in that jacket, and I think I had Juju sign it. So it's in my studio. So I have different things that people can come by and look at, maybe buy, but some of those things I don't like to sell.

I just like to show. That's got to be hard for you, I would think. With all the experience, all the people you're meeting, you've got to be racking up some memorabilia. A little bit. I didn't used to. Like when I started, I didn't. Because I was very like, I can't.

I don't want to ask someone for an autograph or a picture or whatever. And I've learned it's fine. We're all living in the moment. We're in this new age of technology and everything is right now, right here. And I think that transitions for me even with my speed painting. We talked about not letting people see your process versus seeing your process. Well, you've got to paint fast if it's in front of people or else they get bored, you know.

You've got to do it fast. And it's the same with, you know, technology. Everyone's just hands-on and just going, going, going. I forget where we were going with that. No, I was about memorabilia and different things. Yeah. one's just hands-on and just going going going i forget where we were going with that but no i was about memorabilia and different things yeah and how many uh how large your attic's gonna have to be eventually you're uh yeah so i didn't used to used to do it but now i i have like uh carson sent me a jersey sign it just very nice just signed it and uh said some nice things to me on there. So different ones.

Jerry Rice, so I have a painting I did of him for myself. So he signed that. I have a few others. Me and Joe signed a Coke bottle for me. Nice. And he signed my jersey I painted in and stuff. So I get Steelers fans that come in the studio, and they're like, what? But see, I grew up in Michigan.

I'm a Detroit Lions fan. Painful. And I never liked the Steelers, and the main reason was because they won all the time. So actually, this first cruise I did with the Steelers, this is kind of a funny story, but they're like, Joe, we want to do a Q&A with you, with all the fan base, and we'll have some players there.

And I'm like, they're not going to want to do a Q&A with me. They're here to see these athletes. They're like, you'll paint a few times first so they'll see you. Yeah, some people will show up. So I was like, all right. Well, they showed up. There was a packed room. There was about five or six players that came out.

And so they're like, all right, let's get this going. So I got up there and introduced myself. I'm Jared Emerson from perry michigan i'm a hardcore detroit lions fan and that everyone's looking at me like what the heck did he just say and a couple people were like boo and i said listen i just wanted to before i get into q a like i just have a question for everyone here and again full house pittsburgh steelers fans i said i've always wondered from the bottom of my heart like what is it like to actually win and right then they were like just blew up you know and then you stroke their ego hey what's it like to be the winning

this team in history like that um crushed the ice yeah melted it You melted it. Right. So, you know, I think that's part of being a fan of a team that's never really won anything, right? You have to suck it up and still support them in what they do but still be happy for these other teams. So I grew up hating the Steelers but now having, you can say, maybe an affection for them because I've got to meet a lot of their players and current and former. Even Mike Tomlin, I did a painting in Pittsburgh with him that I did and just meeting these guys and just, and that's the thing, like when people say, what's your team?

I mean, Lions are my team, but like I root for Carson to be the best quarterback he can be. I root for his team to try to win another Super Bowl. You know, Dwayne Allen, he played, he just won a Super Bowl with the Patriots last year, I think he's with Miami. I am from Clemson. Yeah. Great guy, love him to death. And, you know, you want to see these guys do well, what they do. And if they don't do well, you just want to be there for them and let them know that you love and care for them no matter what. And then when they're on their highs, you want to let them know that,

hey, I don't need to be there with you, but I'm proud of you, and keep it up, keep doing what you're doing. So I'm probably more of a player fan now versus a team fan because you get to know some of these guys and just want to see them see them do well like I love James James Connor like great guy I mean he's over overcome some with cancer and everything and doing what he's doing I got a lot of admiration for him and just he's a young guy and you know it was an honor to do a painting of him and I got to let let him know that like it was

more an honor for me to paint him with with his fans um than anything so that's pretty neat what's the what's the future hold i mean where are we headed i know that's a loaded question but it's very loaded but i mean we're if you're guiding the ship you where you where you where you taking it you know you know right riding the wave i mean you know i i think you you, riding the wave? I mean... You know, I think you continue riding the waves, but you're also looking for the bigger waves, right? Yeah. You're also looking for the biggest thing.

To me, the ultimate thing for me is like, and take this the way I'm saying it is, the goal is the Super Bowl, right? Yeah. It's the biggest event in the world. Well, I guess they say. Maybe to us Americans. I think it It's the biggest event in the world. Well, I guess they say. Maybe to us Americans. I think it's in the top five in the world.

And in the U.S., it's 1, A, B, and C. Yeah, so you have that as, hey, so that's the ultimate. Yeah, I'd love to paint there. Now, if someone else does it or some other artist, you know, that's fine. But that's the goal. It doesn't mean I actually have to do it. But if if someone else does it or some other artist, you know, that's fine. But that's the goal. It doesn't mean I actually have to do it.

But if I did it, it would be the biggest thing. I can see Kanye and you on stage at the Super Bowl. I mean, I see it. Jesus is king, busting out Jesus. How wonderful would that be? Kanye, if you're listening or you're Handler. That's right. Let's do it.

That would be epic. It would be. And that could be done in a way where it's just is you know a beautiful setting so so that's there right you put that up in the air you put that out to the you know prayers to god and um if it happens it happens if it doesn't it's no no big deal um but back to when i i told you like you have hopes and dreams as a kid right but then I believe God's transitioned those to something different so I've been able to live out those dreams that I wasn't able to so once you live out those dreams then you set new goals new dreams right so I think that's

the wave I'm on right now is I'm looking for those bigger waves of, okay, what do I do and how do you impact people? And part of it is coming up with new ideas and concepts. Like you can, I mean, I get, I get artists and athletes that send me videos of different people they saw online or whatever. And, you know, for me as an artist, I usually pick apart, right, the videos. Right. It's the time lapse. Okay. How long was that time lapse does do you see it move and change you know so so to me i'm like hey i just did this painting in three minutes or five minutes or eight minutes um but you time lapse that you can time lapse that in 10 seconds right yeah the beauty of these things right so for me i'm always a skeptic on something

but i think a lot of videos are cool so i kind of think the same way with me like when people see a video of me and they're like is that real like does that really happen um so part of me is like coming up with a concept for a cool video right to do um one thing i started i know a company that does. Yeah, some good stuff. I need to check them out. Shameless plug. But it's coming up with the concept and ideas to do the video with, right?

Yeah. And the biggest thing for me is usually time because I'm always going, I'm always doing things. And I'm a big believer in, you know, people want to hire you

for something, you do it and you stick with it. If something bigger comes along, I'm booked. Yeah, I'm booked. Finish what you started. Yeah, I'm booked. I can't, right?

If something like the Super Bowl came up, we might be able to work something out. I don't know. But it's just continually moving forward is what I think I'm trying to do. Thinking of new things and, like I said, videos and ideas of what to paint i was going to say this so two years ago i started painting on glass right it's like an acrylic um so i'm actually facing the crowd they're watching me and i paint something almost that's himself in an air i haven't seen that so i have an art show every year it's in september this year it's september 24th coming up to 2021 i mean 20 sorry i'm getting a year ahead

2020 so september 24th i believe so i do art show here locally and at zen yeah i was there for this right what'd you think it's all right i never watched my painting though oh you know listen i you use it as, here's the thing. If I'm on a jack-up of a painting, it's going to be my own show, because I have control. I can do whatever I want, right? But if someone's paying me to do something, I'm going to make sure I do it right and get it right.

But it was fun. It was fun. I thought it was good. I wouldn't have even noticed it. We moved right to the next painting, right? So just throwing that out there. If everyone thinks that I'm just perfect every time, I'm not. Yeah. But I want to see that acrylic next year maybe so like yeah well the year before which you probably missed i missed um i did aretha franklin on on glass okay and the year before

that i did a frank sinatra okay so it's it's it's pretty neat to see because it's almost like it's transform yourself in the air and i'm in between. It's very tough to do because, you know, if you focus on the crowd, then your space gets blurry. If you focus on what you're doing, the crowd gets blurry. So you can still see everyone and what's going on. But it can also be fun too because you can play with it a little bit. But I'd like to do something with that, maybe multiples. And, you know, some of the things I do, it it just takes production so it's figuring that out as well where can

people find you where so if someone's listening they want to hire you someone wants to go learn more and you got the website where can they find right now I'm sitting here in radical radical studio here in green we're gonna digitally find you so digitally Instagram, Instagram is TheJaredCollection. I need some more followers. So I usually post, I probably don't post as much as I should, but I usually put a lot of stories on here and there. Yeah.

But Instagram is one where you can see different things and multiple stuff that I do. So I go from, you know, maybe a video here and there to showing a painting or just something I'm doing or an event that I'm at. But Instagram is probably my main thing I'm kind of using now. But my website is the Jared, not the Jared, it's jaredemerson.com. Facebook's just Jared Emerson. Art reaches everyone. It's my business slogan

because I believe art does reach everyone because art is in everything from this table to our clothes to this microphone, this building. This conversation. Yeah, it's an art form. Yeah.

And I think art reaches and touches people in so many different ways. So, yeah, that's where you can find me. And I live in Greenville, South Carolina. My studio's right here, right downtown, down the street. Available worldwide. Available worldwide, yep. So I've actually been to India, China, almost every state in the U.S.,

except for Hawaii. I have not painted in Hawaii, which we're working on. Yeah. It's fun. So if you've got any ideas, go right there. I've got some ideas there. I have a couple friends that are there, actually. Nice.

So I might can work on that. All right. But, man, I really appreciate you coming on. Oh, man, I appreciate you having me. You know, knowing you for a couple years, consider you a friend and respect and admire, respect and admire your passion for art and Christ and everything that you're doing both in the world and locally. Appreciate it.

Yeah, man, I think people are going to love this episode. I hope so. Listen, if you get some time, go home, throw some paint. You never know what might happen. But, yeah, if I encourage your listeners, just keep dabbling, keep pushing, keep creating, keep being creative. Take that imagination to the next level because this day and age we need more of that versus just looking at our phones.

We need some boom, boom, boom. Yeah, can't agree more. Well, we really appreciate Jared Emerson coming on today. Go check out him at all of the places that he said. That's it for today on the Radical Company Podcast. See you. Peace. We the ones, yeah, yeah We the ones, we the ones, yeah