BRADENTON BEACH – Having a talented artist on board has been a boost for this city’s public works department. Employee Pat O’Neill has left his mark on public property with murals and signage and now his work is spreading to private property.

O’Neill’s latest work is a mural on a fuel tank at Bradenton Beach Marina and another on the wall of an adjacent building.

“It was my father’s (marina owner Allan Bazzy) idea,” said marina manager Mike Bazzy. “We originally wanted him to do one side of the tank, but we ended up having him do all sides. He did a great job.”

O’Neill’s latest work was done on the rough surface of the tank, which he said was not a big problem. It depicts sea turtles and dolphins on one side and other aquatic critters on the other. The mural on the office shows a pelican standing on a piling of a dock.

O’Neill’s talents have made him a valuable commodity in a city that has a history of rehabilitating its popular waterfront and adding to it. His work includes murals at the police department, the Tingley library, city hall and the Monroe Cottage, which houses the projects and programs director’s office. He has decorated signs and tables at the Bridge Street Pier and has agreed to repaint the tables because of wear and tear.

“They started looking bad because people use them for cutting bait,” he said. “I don’t mind repainting them.”

Business owners in Bradenton Beach have been impressed, and his art is now a part of the Sun House restaurant and Oma’s Pizza. He was asked if he knows what he’s going to paint when he starts.

“The customers usually tell me what they want and I make it up along those lines,” he said.

When he’s not painting murals and signs, what does he do in his free time? Well, he has set up booths at a couple of festivals because he likes to paint pictures as well as murals. His work is varied and a lot of it follows a nautical theme.

If you’re interested, call Pat at 792-4901 or 812-7068.