Aerosol art in action

Local artist hopes to win big on television talent show

WILLIAMS - Local artist Eddie Parker's got talent. He recently decided to see how far that talent would take him when he auditioned for the popular television show, America's Got Talent.

Parker, who makes his spray can masterpieces at art shows in the area as well as at fairs and carnivals, traveled to Denver for the audition.

"I get great feedback from this space painting that I do, the live aerosol art show," Parker said. "So it made me want to go after it more."

Parker completes his aerosol pieces in under 90 seconds, one of the audition requirements for the show. He said his wife Sabrina encouraged him to audition for the talent show, who's winner takes home $1 million.

To raise enough money to travel to Denver, Parker held fundraisers featuring barbecue, his art demonstrations and raffles with prizes including custom painted skateboards.

"We got a lot of support that made it possible for us to get out to Denver," Parker said.

Upon arrival in Denver, Parker immediately made his way to the staging area for the audition, lining up at 12:30 a.m. the morning of the audition.

When the sun came up and Parker made his way inside, he said he stood out from most of the other hopeful contestants, predominantly singers and dancers, with his red wagon full of spray paint and supplies. Security guards immediately confiscated his equipment due to safety concerns with a guarantee that it would be returned at the time of Parker's audition. It was.

Parker, in the No. 6 slot to audition that day, let several people audition ahead of him.

"I didn't want to be right up there at the beginning," he said.

Unsure if he would be allowed to do a live space painting in the audition room, Parker brought along DVDs of his performances, some of which incorporate a black light show and fire elements.

After assuring the judges that he had indeed done his aerosol painting indoors in the past, Parker proceeded to wow the judges with his 86-second performance.

"I got done with the painting and jaws dropped," Parker said.

After the audition, Parker was escorted back to the main waiting room where he was asked to re-enter the room as if he was just arriving with his wagon full of supplies for the first time.

"They followed me around with the cameras for about an hour," Parker said. "Then, we sat down and we did about a 20-minute interview where I plugged away at Williams and what I do and what it took me to get here."

After the remaining auditions in cities across the U.S are complete, Parker expects to find out whether he will be a contestant of next season's show sometime in April. He said regardless of the result, the experience so far has been more than worthwhile.

"It's going to be a long winter," Parker said. "We'll keep our fingers crossed."