Renegade Issue 34

Being on opposite sides of the country doesn’t give me much time with my

Renegade boss, although we communicate almost daily, it is always a plea-

sure to spend some time together. When he ventured to Arizona recently,

I knew exactly where I wanted to take him, so we jumped in the jeep with

Diesel, the renegade dog, and off we went to a little town in Southeastern Ari-

zona. A little border town known as Douglas is where I met Frank Lara at a

super bowl party. I was intrigued by what I was hearing in his conversations

with the other guests so at the end of the night, I introduced myself and gave

him a business card and asked if he might be interested in getting together.

His story was even better than I had imagined…….

In his words, he describes Kiko Airbrush Kustoms as a business that started

with a doodle while listening to a lecture on Airway Adjuncts and Lifesaving

Procedures about 15 years ago. He has worked as a Firefighter Captain, a

respiratory tech. and as a Registered nurse. He felt that all this had really

set him up for needing a creative outlet in his life. He came from a long line

of blacksmiths and welders, so turning the paint gun onto steel was easy

for him, but he wasn’t so sure about it being art! His daily job and tasks in

life had brought him to a place where he needed to be for his family, but his

yearning to create art was always there in the back of his mind. Kustom Kul-

ture Art was calling to him. Below is his story:

“Eye candy and outrageous paint has always intrigued me and being able to

learn from experts and professionals had been a pastime of mine for 10 to

15 years. As I learned from local professional painter, Robert Vasquez and

a few others in Douglas, Arizona, I realized airbrush and mixed media was

what I was seeking. A good friend and fellow artist, Joe (Prez) Perez walked

into my shop in 2006 and asked if it was okay to learn. That was the day the

light came on and I said “YES”! Since then many have entered the shop to

enjoy along with many loyal customers. My concept is that this Kustom Kul-

ture Shop is open to anyone having the time and should they want to learn,

that’s fine too. The days are hot and dry in Arizona, so it was only a matter

of time before we got thirsty. That’s when the Double Nickel Tavern ( Last

leg of the Mexican Blackbird Trail) was born. It became the home of broken

hearts, collapsed chairs, broken doors, torn pants, face plants and the infa-

mous waterfall effect. Yup, there’s a bar in the shop! Rodders, riders and

Chameleons are welcome after hours….but that’s a whole different story!

I primarily use House of Kolor custom paints for my metal creations and

projects that people bring in. I’ve also started using Createx Bloodline and

Createx Illustration for artwork. As the demands of detailed art, rustorations,

restorations and special projects increase, so does the learning curve. Let

me tell you, going green isn’t easy, but it’s got to be done! Myself and Steve

Valdez have just returned from training at Coast Airbrush where we learned

from some of the world’s best artist such as Cory Saint Clair, Jason Prouty,

Craig Fraiser and Steve Van Demon just to name a few. In the meantime, we

continue to turn out wicked, bad ass and at times heavenly artwork here at

Kiko Airbrush Kustoms. We have a good circle of people to help with various