Sometimes A.D. Cook has to step away from the easel and go get more inspiration. Here, he captures a beautiful model on a new Harley-Davidson Street Glide owned by our buddy Bob Spina - aka ‘Vegas’ who joined us for the day, and the ride, to help out.

Bob and A.D. park the bikes under the Joshua trees to cool down.

Back up against the tree branches - what a photographer has to do to get a good photo!

Beautiful models with the bikes. With last Friday’s pick of the Week we teased you, and now you know the rest of the story.

Watch AirbrushTour for more as new art is revealed featuring our models and the bikes above.

Photos courtesy of Doug Hash.

This year, AirbrushTour will follow A.D. Cook to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally where he will be taking his Artist Fusion™ and Metal Fusion™ art. Look for A.D. and his unique art at Custom Corners on Lazelle street between 7th and 8th streets in Sturgis, SD.

Rally dates are August 6th through 12th. A.D. will be there signing autographs from August 9th through 12th. Get the goods on the event at: SturgisMotorcycleRally.com

Indian Summer (shown above), painted by A.D. Cook (yes, it’s a painting) will make an appearance as limited-edition fine art reproductions on canvas, available at the A.D. Cook display. Get yours there!. This painting was featured on the cover of Airbrush Action magazine April 2001, and was also the Third Place Winner of the 15th Annual Airbrush Excellence Competition, Fine Art Category 2001. Click here to view a larger image of Indian Summer

‘Indian Summer’ copyright © 2000 A.D. Cook. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

What are A.D. and Bob Spina doing out in the Nevada high-desert?

Well, you’ll have to wait a few days to find out. But suffice it to say that there were two decked Harley-Davidson motorcycles, two gorgeous models, a camera and lots of sunshine involved. Keep your feed fresh if you want the rest of the story.

Photo courtesy of Doug Hash.

Last week, we announced that Dennis Mathewson would be making an appearance at the AWFS show in Las Vegas with Anest-Iwata.

They decided to provide something very unique at the show - a special Tiki carving created completely in the duration of the show. The Tiki was named TIKI-SAN (in honor of our Iwata friends in Japan) and it took about 25 hours to finish.

Dennis enjoys hand-carving tikis and says ‘The sound of carving a tiki is a deep primal pounding that’s engaging and hypnotic”.

Dennis adds a touch of detail.

Anest Iwata provided the spray equipment and sponsored Dennis at the booth…

…which makes sense since Dennis uses their spray equipment on his tiki projects.

After the carving is complete, Dennis uses his Iwata airbrushes to add color in key areas to finish the effect.

TIKI-SAN all finished and ready for its future home. Aloha.

All images in this post are copyright of Dennis Mathewson - © 2007 Cosmic Airbrush. Used by permission.

07/17/07 — A private art show featuring A.D. Cook’s newest paintings was hosted for some of the Insurance Industry’s top performers at the Oh My Godard Gallery in Planet Hollywood. A.D. had the privilege of emceeing and mingling with these star performers for an evening of art appreciation.

Trish ‘the Dish’ was a big hit as she shared ‘Vegas Vodka’ with gallery guests.

A drawing was held for one of A.D.’s Artist Fusion abstracts. The crowd looking over their raffle tickets as…

A.D. announces the winner.

This is the lucky winner. The prize was an original A.D. Cook abstract. Congratulations!

While our show was taking place, just down the hall another truly Vegas style event was shaking things up at the Planet Hollywood’s Theatre of Performing Arts - The Hooters Swimsuit Pageant 2007. Jessie Jones representing her home state of Wisconsin stopped by our little event to spread some sunshine. Meanwhile, another 124 beautiful Hooters ladies strolled the Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood. Hey, this stuff only happens in Vegas baby.

Read all about the Hooters Swimsuit Pageant here.

All photos in this post by Doug Hash.

A couple of weeks ago we brought you pics of Lynne Dykins’ painted, but not yet assembled, custom paint job on the tins of her client’s Harley-Davidson Sportster called ‘Destination Anywhere Tour’. Since then, the custom Sporty has been assembled, the client is happy, and Lynne has launched her new web site — ColorShift.com.

Go back to our previous AirbrushTour post and take a close-up look at Lynne’s great airbrush work.

Nice job Lynn! We look forward to your future projects. If you have a project for Lynne, contact ColourShift Studio at (248) 709-1139 for more information.

This year, AirbrushTour will follow A.D. Cook to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally where he will be taking his Artist Fusion™ and Metal Fusion™ art. Look for A.D. and his unique art at Custom Corners on Lazelle street between 7th and 8th streets in Sturgis, SD.

Rally dates are August 6th through 12th. A.D. will be there signing autographs from August 9th through 12th. Get the goods on the event at: SturgisMotorcycleRally.com

Motor Lisa (shown above), painted by Raphael Schnepf will make an appearance as limited-edition fine art reproductions on canvas, available at the A.D. Cook display. Get yours there!

‘Motor Lisa’ copyright © 1998 Raphael Schnepf. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Check out this amazing leather work of a Betty Page image worked into the seat of an old school bobber.

Go back and see more pics from last year’s L.A. Calendar Show

A.D. Cook and his Artist Fusion™ and Metal Fusion™ appeared at the Wyland Gallery at Pier 39 in San Francisco over the weekend, July 14 & 15, 2007. This was A.D.’s first show in San Francisco, it was great to appear at such a beautiful gallery in a truly picturesque setting. Pier 39 is within eye shot of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Prison.

Our friend Norm Gregg stopped by the show to say hi. (see a recent post we did on Norm’s cool airbrush t-shirt work)

Looking out at Alcatraz Island from the back deck of the Wyland Gallery at Pier 39.

Pier 39 has so many things to do and see - not enough time on this trip to explore that, but if you have some time while you’re there - check it out - events, tours, attractions and food galore.

Antique Merry-Go-Round, find this and you’re a stone’s throw from the gallery.

A.D. and friends stop by the legendary Buena Vista for some adult refreshment after the show.

Left to right… Stan and Arlene Klock, Liz and Bill Gresham (who also dropped in the show at Lake Tahoe last month) and A.D. partaking of the famous irish coffee served up hot at the Buena Vista.

Learn the intriguing story of how in 1952, the Buena Vista’s owner and a friend perfected the science of Irish coffee.

Our buddy Norm Gregg recently completed a couple new murals that he’s kindly allowed us shared with you. This one is most notable; a large-scale airbrushed fire truck, commissioned by the firefighter and truck driver to be featured for his home. In another step towards authenticity, plans include a fire pole installed to be installed near the mural.

And this colorful airbrushed wall mural is for a Kung Fu studio. Nice work Norm on both counts.

Norm is most known for his incredible t-shirt art. Check out Norm’s article on painting t-shirts.

Want more? You can contact Norm at…
Norm Gregg Studios
1245 Plumliegh Ln.
Concord, CA 94521
(925) 250-1288
normgreggstudios@aol.com

All images in this post are copyright of Norm Gregg - © 2007 Norm Gregg Studios. Used by permission.

The AWFS Fair 2007 is being held July 18 - 21 2007 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. This promises to be a really fun event showcasing all that is cool in the world of wood. In 2007, AWFS®Vegas combines the largest exhibition of woodworking hardware and machinery, board and panel products, upholstery material, wood components, supplies, services and new technologies in North America with unmatched networking opportunities and the finest professional educational conference in the industry. For woodworking professionals from across the country and around the world, this is where it’s at. Anest-Iwata will be there, and that’s where you can find Dennis Mathewson too - Booth #405. This event is open to the public.

We met Ashton Howard at Art Expo in New York in March. His art is the expression of his passion for the ocean. He sometimes even presses shells into the rich texture of his originals to give the art a connection to what inspired it.

Ashton Howard online.

Visit the ArtExpo category to learn about other artists we met there.