Muncie Native Artist on Extreme Makeover

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Muncie native Eric Ward put his talents to work on a recent episode of ABC’s television series, Extreme Makeover Home Edition set in Indianapolis. Ward was the airbrush artist in Courtney McFarland’s “executive” style bedroom. The 14-year-old boy hopes to become a businessman one day, and the bedroom was designed to inspire him to achieve his goals.

Ward was part of six takes. Three featured camera shots of his hands transforming the wall into the Indianapolis skyline with his air brush. The other three were shot of designer Ed Sanders quizzing Ward on which buildings were which in that skyline.

“Ed would come in and ask what buildings were what,” Ward explained. Part of this filming took place while Ward was painting the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. “It had not been part of the plan and they thought it was pretty cool that I was adding to it…it is part of the skyline,” Ward said. And, it is one of sentimental value to Ward, whose father is a Vietnam Veteran.

“My dad was in the Air Force. He worked on the B29 bombers and P51 mustangs he was a tech sergeant in the Vietnam War. I knew that had to be in it. My dad is my biggest fan.”

During the exhaustive volunteer work, Ward discovered he had some other big fans.

“I finished around 6 a.m. There were big bright lights set up around the house so they could work all day and night. I was carrying equipment out to my truck. On my last trip out, I was carrying tarps and stopped on the step to tie my shoe. I had my hands in my head and dozed off. A mother and a little girl came up. I didn’t know there were people lined up because of the bright lights on the house. She said, ‘excuse me sir, I didn’t mean to startle you but I know you painted something in the house by what you were carrying out. What did you paint?’ I told her it was an executive bedroom. She explained that she knew the family and said it must have been for Courtney. I said yes.”

She said her daughter was wondering if she could have her picture taken with Ward. “I said I would be honored and the little girl sat beside him and put her hand on my shoulder. That was the highlight of my weekend...making a little girl feel like she was sitting by someone special. They were there early enough that they were in the front of the reveal and I got to see the little girl and her mother on TV.

Though he didn’t catch the little girl’s name, or the thousands of volunteers, Ward found himself in admiration of many other people through the Extreme Makeover experience.

“It was a family of Hoosiers. I was so glad to be part of it. They had 8,000 people and had groups of 600 rotate in at a time so they could get everyone in. They wanted to get all 8,000 people to get to work on it. At 2 a.m. you would see nothing but blue shirts in the neighborhood working. It was amazing to see all that stuff happening.

I could write a book about the 3 days I was on this project. In my line of work I have met some really nice people. I’d much rather make somebody happy than take a lot of money from them,” Ward said.

After putting in roughly 80 hours of work on the skyline with no sleep, Ward left the McFarland home and went back to his own home to share the experience with his wife, Vicki.

“When I came home my emotions were out of control. We had VIP tickets to stand when the bus moved, but I was so tired I slept that whole day. I didn’t get to see Courtney’s reaction, but seeing his joy on TV was rewarding enough.

“He was extremely excited about that room. He was excited that someone cared enough to push him into doing something with his life. I was just so glad to be part of all of that,” Ward said. “It’s a chance of a lifetime. I wish everybody could do it. Once you do something like that it stays with you forever.”

That is the attitude that Ward takes on most of his airbrush jobs with. “You have to have a heart for it,” he said.  “It’s not about the money. You have to have the heart first. Money will come later if you stick with it.”

Ward has discovered he has a true passion for teaching others to airbrush, and is looking into writing a book on the subject.

“I’m so grateful for the talents that I’ve got. I can look at something and paint it.  Before that I used projectors and traced. That’s how I teach people now.

“Anybody can do what I do. When I worked at Lincoln tech I always said I could teach anyone to airbrush in three hours. Everyone said I couldn’t do it…I proved them wrong every time,” Ward said.

Ward is currently the in house artist at Indy Body Werks in Indianapolis. He lays out all graphics, murals and other artwork on vehicles.

“Right now I’m doing a portrait bike as a tribute to the owner’s mother.  I had the privilege of making her cry,” Ward said.

“She wanted her late mother and angels and stuff like that on her bike. It made me feel great to know I was doing something right,” he added.

Ward will be making an appearance in the Indy Body Werks booth at an upcoming car show, Slamology, June 20-21 at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, teaching interested spectators how to air brush and debuting the portrait bike along with another project in the works.

For more information on how to meet Ward in person, visit his website www.High-Performance-Customs.com or www.slamology.com.