Krewe of Endymion, 2005
November 2004 started my float painting endeavours. I worked at Kern Studios that season. I got thrown right into the mix with a few supplies and a spray gun.
I ended up painting 8 floats (or 4 tandems) that year for Endymion. Half of them were "extra super floats," meaning that they were at least 50 feet long. Luckily, Joe Ory (the real Mr. Mardi Gras) was also working in the Endymion den painting floats. Joe has been painting floats for about 45 years. Joe and I quickly became aquainted and he showed me the ropes of how to paint a float. Without Joe, I would have been lost...
This first float was the last one I painted for Endymion, called Winged Bull. It was a brand new float constructed for that year. I joked with Henri Schindler that it was like painting a "virgin." There is something nice about painting a float that no one has painted before. I put extra effort into this one, measuring out every brick in advance.
I was not able to get a photo of the 2nd float that was attached to the back of this one.
This next float was another 50+ foot monster. It ended up taking me about 4 days to complete this one. One good thing about this float was that fact that I met Marisa Tomei while painting it. She's even more stunning in person.
Below is a picture of the second part of this float .
This next tandem of 2 floats were the 3rd set I did for Endymion. I believe they were called the "Ogre" floats. Please excuse the bad photos and the fact that the floats were not finished when I took these pics.
The last set of floats were the first ones I painted for Endy. As mentioned, I was on "trial" period with ole Kern, so I had very few supplies (2 old, used brushes) and had to get colors from Joe Ory who was more than willing to help the new guy. Once I finshed the first float, they brought out his highness, Mr. Kern, to inspect the grunt's work. He approved and had the green light to paint the second one. He told me then, "I'd like to see longer brush strokes in those flames..." I was polite, but I wanted to say, "If you give me a fucking brush with long bristles, you'll get a longer brushstroke!" However, they were soon somewhat open to my supply requests.
All in all, working in the Endymion den was a good experience. I got to know Joe pretty well who taught me alot about float painting and how the Mardi Gras industry works, or doesn't work. Like Mr. Schindler said to me, it was a "trial by fire." I attended the Endy Open House that year and was able to purchase some goodies. I bought an Endymion flag and had it signed by me, Jordan Ivanov (Endy float painter), Joe Ory (Endy float painter), Danny Corio (Endy float painter), Damon Bowie (Kern designer), and Eric (fiber optic "lighting God").
