One of the great pleasures of attending SEMA, is to fill up on eye candy of the four wheel variety. There is absolutely no end to the creativity, color and just out-and-out WOW factor to soak up there - some with airbrush - some without - but all kewl in their own way. Following are a few of the rides that impressed us. We’ve also put these up on Flikr so you can go straight there if you want to view them as a slideshow.

Buckle your belts and feast your eyes…

Burnin’ thousand dollar bills on that Daytona Motorhead.

The Truely Dually Truck from Spectre Performance.

Cool blue truck with some impressive airbrush on it.

Christian Lassen’s Lamborgini in the Alsa display.

The Red Phoenix painted by Mike Lavallee

An awesome treatment to a classic ‘57 Chevy.

K-Daddy’s Accent - sweeeet.

House of Kolor’s Dragster.

‘Stangs and more ‘Stangs.

A supercharged ‘32 roadster - love that one for a Sunday drive.

McGaughy’s Tahoe.

George Barris’ Monkey-Mobile

This has been a real image heavy post. And we’re not through yet. There are still scads more pics of rods to bring out to you so keep your feed fresh and we’ll bring ‘em out as soon as we get ‘em. It’s kind of like finding buried treasure, you never know what you’re going to find but that’s part of the fun. Stay tuned…

We thought we would give you a “heads up” and let you know that A.D. will be showing his art at the Oh My Goddard Gallery at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas this Saturday and Sunday. If you’re coming to Vegas this weekend, or happen to already be here, stop in to see a sampling of some of his newest “Metal Fusion” pieces. These paintings are not easy to show on the internet and you really have to “be there” to get a feel for them. The hours are 4 to 8pm on Saturday the 27th and 1 to 4pm on Sunday the 28th.

See you there!

~Kathy

One of the great things about the internet is that you can make friends at the speed of light by just powering up that computer.

I got an email today from an airbrush com-padre telling me about his new website. And I gotta tell you, once I started clicking, I couldn’t stop until I had seen every freaking image and every fab page the site could deliver. His name is Phlash and he’s a genuine renaissance man from Montreal, Quebec.

Canada isn’t on our immediate itinerary, but we thought you shouldn’t be delayed in getting to know something about this artist anyway. When I say Phlash is a renaissance man, I really mean it. His art has an anime feel about it and he puts it everywhere: walls - indoors and out, canvas, electronics, clothing, helmets, web - you name it.

Check out the site for yourself and see if you don’t agree… ThaPhlash.com.

December 2, 2006 was the date this year of the annual Coast Kustom Culture Show in Anaheim, CA. Dave Monnig has provided these pics and some words for you about the kewlest, kulture artist party in the west…

“With over two thousand people, this years’ party was the best yet. The sky was blue with a temp of 78 degrees.

A perfect day for a rider or a cruise. The food as always was served up by Ramon and his crew. Everyone loves his tacos which are free by the way.

The three bands were load and fun! Deadbeat Sinatra, Vandemon’s band and Inhale.

We even made some more noise when Leah Pruett fired up her 2200 HP dragster then Lil Newt fired up his nastalgic dragster, everyone went nuts!

Queensryche even stopped by while they were on tour with their bus. We thought they might play but the band was having too much fun at the party and in the VIP lounge with our resident bar tender Stevo.

Ryno from Trick My Truck.

Check out photos from all the show at www.coastairbrush.com

See ya next year!”

Back in November, after the Airbrush Confidential Party at SEMA, Las Vegas, we promised that you would get a special post about those beautiful, painted body art models. Well that day has arrived!

Here’s the back story:

We thought it might be fun to enlist the special talents of both Shin (www.ArtofShin.com) and the brilliant Pamela Shanteau (www.pamelashanteau.com) to help us adorn two lovely Las Vegas models with airbrush painted designs, then surprise the party-goers with their presence. So A.D. sprang into action and did a talent search using his OneModelPlace membership to find just the right models for the job. It was a fun and interesting use of one of the rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel and the results were spectacular!

Shin decided to paint a dynamic combination of flowers on Beverly.

He uses a number of different colors to get his effect:

What a picturesque setting for this event - overlooking the Las Vegas skyline.

Employing her automotive expertise, Pamela painted Rachel all in flames. And she looked HOT!

Artool templates make the job a snap.

In only two hours the transformation was complete. It was time to go and mix it up with the rest of the party which was already in progress.

Rachel and Beverly were such good sports. They mingled and partied and showed off their paint in professional style.

And a good time was had by all.

Visit the model’s portfolio pages on One Model Place:

Rachel’s OMP portfolio

Beverly’s OMP porfolio

You can learn more about airbrush body art at A.D.’s site >>> ADCookFineArt.com

If you’re a fan of the new Iwata Kustom airbushes then Iwata Medea has a treat for you. The ultimate airbrush arsenal with all 5 Kustom airbrushes; the Iwata Kustom TH, Iwata Kustom TR, Iwata Kustom CM, Iwata Kustom CH and Iwata Kustom CS, along with 5 Pistol Grip filters are now available as a complete set with a kewl kustom case — a professional artist’s airbrush dream.

Click here or image above to download the Kustom Case Set flyer. (23kb - Right Click, then choose “Save Target As” to save it to your computer)

Click here or the banner above to learn more about the Kustom series airbrushes at Iwata-Medea.com

…or learn more at AirbrushTour.

As we look back over 2006, we have to smile. We did some interesting things, met some fascinating people and learned about the lives and the art of a number of different artists - not just airbrush artists, but also oil painters, sculptors and custom bike and hot rod builders. Artists all. Here’s a quick recap for you as we reminisce on the places and people we had the pleasure of getting to know in 2006.

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We met up with heroes and legends along the way…

Gabe McCubbin from Artool Products in Sacramento, CA
Read about it

Will Naemura from Iwata Medea, Dennis Mathewson from Cosmic Airbrush, Gary Glass from Iwata Medea and A.D. just a few days before we left Portland, Oregon. We cross paths with these guys a few times in various places throughout the year.

A.D. with Craig Fraser of Air Syndicate
Read the post.

Steve VanDemon of Absolute Custom Paint

Tom Prewitt of Monster Garage Fame
Read the post.

Hugh King, the Discovery Channel’s Chopper King. Read the post of the Laughlin River Run.

Custom Bike Builder, Chica of Biker Buildoff fame.

Read the post on the Bakersfield Thunder Run

Ron Simms was just one of a dozen custom bike builders present at the L.A. Calendar show. There was so much to see there, we had to spread it out over two posts. Read Part 1 - Read Part 2

George Barris, famous custom car builder was seen at the Temecula Rod Show. Read all about it here.

Scott Jacobs and David Uhl joined several other motorcycle art luminaries at the Queen Mary in August. Read about the show at the Queen Mary.

Mike Lavallee was one of many famous faces at SEMA with Gary Glass. If you’re a car fan you’ll want to read every SEMA post we did. There was so much to see there that we’re still processing pictures. More posts will spill over into 2007, so don’t be surprised if you see a SEMA redux or two. Read a sample here - or read the entire collection of SEMA posts here.

Fonzy at ASET Air Affair. Again, there was so much here at ASET’s Air Affair in November that you’ll be seeing more from that event as well. Read Part 1 - Read Part 2

Bill Mack - relief sculptor extraordinaire, painter, entrepreneur and all-around great guy was the last of the art world’s celebrities we connected with in ‘06. Read about him right here.

And… last but not least…

A.D.’s own art career took him to Las Vegas - Scottsdale and Houston before the year was over.

We hope you enjoyed following us on our journey in 2006. The only thing we can promise about 2007 is that it won’t be dull. Lots of new downloads, destinations, art, artists, hot rods and motorcycles is sure to grace these pages. AirbrushTour may even jump outside of the U.S. at times. So come along with us - keep your feed fresh and we’ll bring it all to you here on AirbrushTour, 2007.

January 1st, 2007 — Artist Bill Mack was on hand throughout the holiday weekend presenting his new art and showcasing some his timeless favorites. Mr. Mack’s art has shown at Galleria di Sorrento in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace for years. Kathy and I discovered Bill’s amazing figurative relief sculptures long ago while visiting Las Vegas, first in the Fashion Mall, and then at Galeria di Sorrento. Whenever we travel, we always make a point of gallery hopping and especially enjoy our visits to Las Vegas galleries. So, this time was special - being fans of Mr. Mack’s work, it was great to finally meet the artist and chat a bit about art with him.

above: Elusive (bonded bronze) 22″ (34″ overall) x 37″ by Bill Mack - © 2005 Bill Mack - all rights reserved - used with permission.

First off, for those few unaware of Bill Mack and his art, he is most know as the world’s most preeminent relief sculptor. Creating reliefs, drawings, paintings and full-round sculptures in innovative materials, Mr. Mack has produced volumes of work featuring imagery in dance and music, eagles and wildlife, the female form, male and female forms, patriotic works, portraits and religious art.

Youthful and enthusiastic, ambitious and stylish, the mustachioed Mack has a distinctive flair about him. For example, there is a fresh red rose bud he wears on his lapel every day. Though he will not reveal the personal reason why he began the practice some years ago, the red rose has become a symbolic trademark. Presenting them at gallery openings, he has become the largest non-commercial buyer of roses in the world, requiring tens of thousands of them each year.

Without a doubt, Bill Mack’s creations are strikingly unique in the world of art. In or out of his studio, Mack is an unique individual and artist, influencing today’s world of contemporary art.

above: Love (stainless steel) 37″ x 30″ (approx. framed dimensions) by Bill Mack - © 2005 Bill Mack - all rights reserved - used with permission.

His newest work includes portraits of Hollywood icons actually painted on the panels from the original Hollywoodland sign. We’ll bring you more on that another time (soon, we hope). In the meanwhile, hat’s off to you Mack.

Visit Bill Mack online to learn more.

This year’s New Year celebration started with a plethora of choices. Some more obvious than others. We had seen a taste of the strip earlier in the day when we stopped in to see Bill Mack’s new art on display at the Galleria di Sorrento at The Forum Shops in Caesars Palace (more on that soon). People were out en mass and streets blocked in preparation for the evening’s festivities. An estimated 300,000+ visitors were expected for tonight’s fireworks show. And after a few hours of shoulder rubbing and loud casinos we were trying to convince ourselves that staying home and bringing in the new year quietly was the way to go. Then we were invited to one of the year’s funnest New Year’s celebrations in the party capital of the world; The Midnight at Mandalay Bay show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Okay, so the decision was made and we chose to stay home. No way - who are we kidding? We went to the party, and it rocked! The food was fantastic. The entertainment colorful and exciting with enough eye candy to hold your attention. Dancers and music were the menu of the night with The Boogie Nights show starting at 10:45, and minutes later, it seemed, we were toasting the new year!

The evening’s entertainment rocked, although I was negligent in shooting many pics. There were singers, musicians and dancers, including acrobatics overhead with weightless dancers and flowing fabrics. Use your imagination and you’ll be close. All-in-all, it was beautiful evening all the way around.

Art publisher David Smith and A.D. Cook, artist.

Amber, an executive at Mandalay Bay, and the beautiful Kathryn.

above: A view of the Las Vegas strip from high atop the Mandalay Bay.

Happy New Year from A.D. and Kathy — aka AirbrushTour.com

Check out these cool shots of Las Vegas on New Year’s for great fireworks pictures

Fun Stat— There were 38.7 million visitors to Las Vegas in 2006 (wow!)