Here is a little information on myself and the materials I use. Click on the button to cut to the chase.  I am in the process of updating my web site. Please bear with me in the mean time! After all I am standing in front of an easel and not sitting in front of a screen. Until then... same old news.

  Experience      Materials      Resources/ reference        Q & A section

  I have been an artist all of my life... practically from the womb. I have been in the business of art for over 20years. I started off doing nothing but airbrushing on clothing but have come a long way in my abilities. I paint clothing, automobiles, canvas, murals, anything that crosses my path... "oops, sorry Puppy!". I am self taught having had most of my training in the "front lines" at art fairs and in my own retail shops. While those years were invaluable, I am happy to be moving forward. After about 18 years painting whatever I was asked to paint, I am painting what I love to paint. I stopped doing a lot of the quick work and the subjects that weren't from the heart. This has allowed me to put more of "me" into my painting. I think this is a good point to say that if you are in the publishing business:

I am happily working out of my  studio in Beacon Falls, CT these days. Having the privacy and the space to do nothing but art is heaven!! I can't say that I miss the days in retail at all. I finally have the focus I need to do the work I love.

• Materials

Airbrush: I have used many airbrushes but I LOVE my Iwata HPBC. My little work horse of a brush has withstood hours of abuse and has been at the heart of my painting for over 20 years. In that time I have had to replace very little. I can't say enough about the quality of these brushes! Love it, love it, love it! Expensive... yes... but worth it.

    I also have an Iwata HPBC1 and HPBC2. I don't use them very much. Even in my mural work, I use my little HPBC.

    I have a Paasche VL as well but can not stand to use it. I guess it is all what you get used to.

    I am working more frequently with  an Iwata Eclipse due mainly to the convenience of finding parts. What a great brush!!! It works beautifully.  It is affordable and easy to find. I have been having a hard time finding 4mm. needle nozzles for my BC (this is the only part that I have to maintain on the BC) and they are expensive... about 35.00 for a nozzle. The only thing I do not like about the Eclipse is that for some reason, they eliminated the screw on top of the body. Having that screw on the BC makes cleaning the chamber out so easy as it is just above the suction opening. Cleaning out the body on the Eclipse is a bitch.

    For jar caps I used to use the Paasche vinyl jar adapters. WAY better than the metal ones. Metal rusts. Quickly. Also, you can't clean the tube. it's too skinny for a pipe cleaner. Can't find those any more but Badger puts out a 2 oz jar adapter that fits my 1 oz jars. All plastic, no rust.

Compressor:  My last two compressors were made by Jun-Air  and the quality is outstanding. Both compressors lasted about 7 years each. The first was a 1/4HP and the second a 3/4HP. I worked them hard (sometimes 10 hour days) and never had a fuss. They are silent compressors. A worthy investment and a necessity if you are working on location. 

I recently switched to a 1/4HP Sil-Air compressor (I got a great discount.) I have owned it about 5 months and am not quite impressed with the quality. Already, the air gauge has gone out and needs to be replaced. And this is only with light use. I already know that my next compressor will be a Jun-Air. 

      Flash forward 4 years later. I changed my opinion and I absolutely HATE the Sil-Air compressor! I have not replaced it only because of the cost. 6 months after owning it I had problems. It was replaced and 2 months later the new one acted up. I still have that one and can only use it for 2 hours before it poops out. This compressor NEVER would have gotten me through a show. Disappointing considering the big chunk of change. Anyway I would not recommend it... ever.... to anybody... really.

Paints: For fabric painting I used to use Deka fabric paints. It has the best wash ability that I have found. It needs no binders or top coats to set it to fabric. Deka has a nice color selection. Certain colors I got in the screen printing formula as it is less expensive and goes longer.  Unfortunately, I can no longer find it so I use Liquitex with a binder or Createx or Aqua Flo.n All get heat set.

For white I find Aqua Flow white to have the best opacity... although not as washable as Deka... definitely heat set this paint.

For all my other painting, including automotive, I use Liquitex condensed acrylic. They have nice color and a smooth flow. A joy to work with.

• Reference

I do allot of research for most of my paintings. I find my reference material on the internet, libraries (they do still exist! Use them) and through taking my own photos as it is safer than using someone else's.

Visit my links page for some great sites that I have found useful.

• Q and A section

I don't claim to know EVERYTHING but I do have allot of A's ... as well as Q's.

Share your tips, stories and inspirations with other artists.

 Ok, I'm an artist!!! I spend more time doing or thinking about art and am not quite up to date on some things (like a Q & A page)... I promiss it's coming!! If you have any Q's or A's send them On my feedback form and I will work it into this section.  Any messages I get containing the words "Kiki's art is GREAT" automatically get top priority and jump to the top of this page!

   This is how I feel these days what with trying to keep the business coming in, building my portfolio, learning all I need to know about maintaining my web site and generally just keeping up on things. I would be interested to know how others out there are handling the challenge of  keeping it all together in their artistic endeavors. WELL, for example: this little guy is SUPPOSED to be animated and chasing his tail! Is he? I think not.