The BLOG @ Iwata-Medea.com

What's NEO?

2011-10-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

The NEO for Iwata is our newest entry into the Iwata airbrush line. We've designed the NEO specifically for the new airbrush user and feature both gravity-feed and siphon-feed models.

The gravity-feed NEO CN comes with 2 removable gravity feed cups (B and C sizes) for more versatility. The siphon-feed NEO BCN includes an Iwata Big Mouth bottle to ensure the user experience is fast and easy. Both are easy to use and maintain, and are a terrific value for the price! Even though NEO is made in Taiwan and assembled in China, they are still backed with our Iwata 5- Year Warranty.

For years Iwata has frequently been an airbrush user's second purchase. Today with NEO, we hope that new artists will be able to start their airbrush experience with an Iwata!

For more information on Iwata-Medea products please visit, www.iwata-medea.com.

Updated Fresh, Still Radically Original - Artool

2011-07-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Check out the upgraded and fresh Artool Products website at www.artoolproducts.com

Great work by the good folks at Zookeeper! Thanks for your help!

Craig Fraser Class in San Antonio, TX! April 13th

2011-04-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Call Kari @ ASET to sign up! Seating is Limited 800-628-5449

Airbrush Action Getaway!

2011-02-22T14:44:00.001-08:00

Feb 28th - March 4th 2011. Rio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.

From Airbrush Action: Whether you're a complete novice or a seasoned professional, spend five exciting, information-packed days learning from the world's leading artists in the best airbrush seminar you'll ever attend.

Be a part of the traditional comradery and bonding that develops between students and staff at every Getaway.
Of course, there's always the opportunity for a much-needed social break at the end of the day in the hotel lounge or out on the town. Our seminars have attracted students from corporations as diverse as AT&T, Boeing, Texas Instruments, Ball Aerospace, Hallmark, and many others, as well as free-lancers, small business owners, and students of all skill levels.

Air Affair Workshops, Salt Lake City! Coming up this month!

2010-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Aug. 25-27, 2010 Salt Lake City, UT. Learn from twelve of the top airbrush artists!

Iwata Medea Social Media Sites

2010-04-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of our social media sites, cruise through some of these and check out what's going on.

www.iwata-medea.com

www.facebook.com/iwatamedea

www.twitter.com/iwata_airbrush

www.myspace.com/iwatamedea

There's lots to see from other artists and feel free to post your own artwork as well.

For a list of our Gold Crown dealers check out,

http://www.iwata-medea.com/index.php/buy_now/gold_crown_dealers/

Learn to airbrush like a pro! Sign up NOW for Great Lakes Air Raid

2010-01-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Four of the top automotive airbrush artists in the U.S. are coming to teach you the tricks of the trade. Jason Doll, Craig Fraser, Steve Driscoll and Bob Soroka.

Get in early and secure your spot now:http://ASETUSA.com Call Sherri at (800) 628-5449 or email: sherri@asetusa.com.

Coast Airbrush Party - the Airbrush Show of the Year!

2009-12-15T10:30:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to David Monnig and the Coast Airbrush crew for putting on the year's best airbrush event in 2009! In spite of the chillier-than-SOCAL-is-used-to weather, attendance was huge and the Coast Airbrush Party was off-the-hook!

For the second straight year the party has moved from the lot around Coast's store to the lot across the street at the Ember's nightclub. With substantially more space, Coast was able to fill it with all sorts of eye candy! Booths and tables were manned by all the major airbrush industry companies and players and also by many famous talented artists as well. Also, there were tons of custom painted cars, bikes and other objects d' art for the perusal and purchase of guests. Certainly, one of the highlights was the live music all day. Local bands, including renown artist Steve Vandemon's band, paraded across the stage jammin' out their rockin' licks.

Afterwards, many guests were invited to the Coast After-Party at Club Embers. Funky music filled the air and the ambiance was incredible. Coast sprung for some foodies and fave' beverages. Later the after-after party moved to Ryan "Ryno" Templeton's house where more debauchery certainly took place.

Coast touts it as a Kustom Kulture bash but the pics speak for themselves, this is truly the ultimate everything-airbrush event! For the pics, check out, www.facebook.com/iwatamedea

Take an airbrush class with Noah! This weekend!

2009-10-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

www.learningproductexpo.com in Pasadena. Check out our stand at the show and visit other major art products manufacturers!

Open House Garage31

2009-09-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Jason Prouty and Garage 31 OPEN HOUSE! Live Music, Food and Beer Garden.

This Saturday, Sept.12th. 12pm-4pm, 12th & Main St. Oregon City, OR. For details 971-219-7219

www.garage31.com

Air Affair in SLC 2009

2009-09-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Check out www.facebook.com/iwatamedea for updates!

Iwata Airbrush Updates, Follow Along!

2009-07-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Follow along on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook!

Moving the blog==>

2009-02-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Sorry, it has been a long time since my last post. At the instruction of my webmaster, we have decided to move the blog posts to the front page of our website www.iwata-medea.com. You can read more there from now on. I will continue to leave this blog intact for the reference to the old articles.

Thanks and enjoy the new website!

2008 SEMA Recap - A pleasant surprise!

2008-11-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

They said attendance was going to be down this year at SEMA. I was told on the first day of the show that they only had about 80,000 pre-registered, compared to 130,000 last year. We took a larger space than in the past and moved back into the central hall. Also, we were going to be doing things in the booth differently and a new presentation for this market. I was concerned as the first day of the show opened at 9:00am, wondering if anyone would come by to visit us.

Our objective at this years SEMA was to inspire visitors to think about creating. We know the market for "mural" custom paint and other typical airbrush related custom paint is soft this year. We tried to send the message that you can do so much more with airbrush other than custom painting bikes and cars. Coincidental, House of Kolor echoed this theme also as their booth featured all sorts of painted objects other than cars including; a Guitar Hero guitar, a mix-master blender, skateboards and a margarita machine!

For our display this year we had a stage fabricated and created a blank wall made of Clayboard as the backdrop. We masked the word CREATE on the wall with Ultramask. Famous Artists including Mark Remmling, Steve Driscoll, Craig Fraser, Pamela Shanteau, Mike Lavallee, Fonzy, Ron Gibbs, Brian Poppa, Yvonne Machelis, Franco, Gerald Mendez, Deb Mahan, Daniel Power, and Lynette Orzlowski all volunteered their time to contribute art to the wall. By the end of the show, SEMA had turned out to be a huge success! We were really busy for almost the entire show. We had crowds in our booth almost all day and people returned again and again throughout the show to see the progress on our CREATE wall!

A special thank you goes out to everyone who helped; the Artists who contributed their time and talent, Anest Iwata USA (our sister company in Cincinnati), Artool Products, ASET (our automotive distributor), Kevin Overturf (provided the Piracy Bike), Cliff from Karajen and of course Coast Airbrush.

What would SEMA be without the Airbrush Confidential IV (renamed to Kustom Confidential) party? This year's party was once again a huge success and a good time was had by all!. Look for pics in my next post!

Mike Lavallee's Monster BASH!

2008-10-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

Mike Lavallee of Killer Paint, hosted his first annual 2008 MONSTER BASH! A Halloween themed airbrush artist extravaganza in Snohomish, WA.Iwata Medea and Artool staffers Brooke Cedros, Tony Graham and Kirk Lybecker all attended the event and provided these great pictures!

Brooke Cedros had this to say about the Mondster Bash, " Killer Paint really knows how to put on an event. Great food and a very welcoming vibe. There were people from all over including SF Bay area, Australia and Los Angeles!"

Tony Graham added, " The Monster Bash was one of the biggest gatherings of talent and experience in the autographics scene that I have ever been to! Mike and Nick hosted a real "bash" of an event. Great people, super food and some real kick-ass art!"

Thanks Mike and Nick for putting this together and inviting us to participate!

Enjoy!

Killer...

Paint...

Enrique "xFuegox" Godina

Josh McCurdy

Daniel Power and Mike Lavallee

The GREAT Gerald Mendez

Nick, Fonzy, Gerald and Mike

Fellow BASHERS

Fonzy up to his usual, MAD SKILLZ!

Tony Graham of Iwata Medea enjoying a burger.

Hot hot hot.

Jose working on some killer stuff!

Scary!

Working some OT!

The Crew.

Airbrush Action Getaway Action!

2008-10-14T20:25:00.001-07:00

Here's some shots of art from the airbrush Action Getaway in Las Vegas! Everybody likes great, so here we go!

Big Changes Causing Delays

2008-08-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sooooo sorry about the gap between blog posts. I can assure everyone that the reasons were well justified.

We've been going through a myriad of changes all at once here at Iwata-Medea. The biggest change of all was the move to our new warehouse location. Let me tell you, this was one EPIC move. We were at our last location for over 16 years, so we had alot of STUFF to go through. Some of it we kept, but alot of it we threw away. Here's a little chronological journey of the process and some of the highlights.

The mountain of boxes is building...

Kristin had great spirit about this move!

Walls are down, desks EXPOSED!

Loading the trucks...

Unfortunately, when we got to our new building our office construction was not complete. So we had to work out of make-shift offices in the warehouse.

Insulation is in the walls of the new office. This will help cut down on noise.

More fun stuff.....

Will we EVER move in....?

Will we work here in the receiving dock 4ever???

Well, two weeks ago we finally moved into our freshly painted and reconstructed offices and we are very happy with the results.

Front office area. Our Sales Managers Brooke and Laura picked all of the colors.

Back office with view into accounting suites.

A peak inside the men's commode. I hope it will always be this clean.......

Stocking the shelves...

Paints filling up the racks...

Racks going up.. note the new warehouse pet; our CAT forklift. It's ELECTRIC!

A very happy Tammy in her clean and comfortable production area.

A very happy Greg Ryon our production manager. (I wonder if he's happier about moving into the new warehouse or about the office people moving out of the warehouse!?)

We're still under construction here as we will finish our conference room and break room in early 2009. But at least the hardest part of the move is behind us now. It actually went surprisingly well all considering. Thanks to everyone at Iwata Medea for all their hard work in making this happen. We're in our new home.

Mid American Truck Show

2008-05-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Mark Hebbeler from Anest-Iwata USA was kind enough to do some RECON at the Mid American Truck Show. The stars from Trick My Truck were there including airbrush star, Ryan "RYNO" Templeton. Here is Mark's report.

For the second year, the crew from Outcast Kustoms on CMT’s hit show “Trick My Truck” were on hand to sign autographs and pose for pictures with their fans. Ryan "Ryno" Templeton, Rob Richardson, Kelvin Locklear, Matt Moore, Steve Harrah and Allen Harrah are rock stars in the truck enthusiast world.

A twist at this years show was the crew built a custom rollback on site. With the show being just three days, they somehow pulled it off!

Ryno and the crew put all the manufactures present to work on this one. Col-Met provided a fantastic booth that doubled as a work environment to keep the attendees safe and allow them to watch the build. Brian Lynch from House of Kolor was there with Mitz Shiraiwa and Mark Hebbeler from ANEST IWATA USA, Inc.

K & L Chrome Shop provided a perfect set-up to sell Outcast Kustom, Anest Iwata and Iwata Medea souvenirs’.

Check out the schedule for the upcoming season with all new episodes of “Trick My Truck” on CMT’s website.

http://www.cmt.com

Here you can find MORE pics from the event AND the finished images of the truck!

http://www.kandlchromeshop.net/

http://www.outcastkustoms.com/site_folder/index.html

"THANKS MARK FOR THIS POST!" - Gary

Shameless Plug: NEW Karajen Airport and Airbrush Hanger!

2008-04-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Karajen manufactures the best organization tools in the airbrush industry. Iwata is proud to be the exclusive distributor of Karajen products.

The AIR-PORT™ AIRBRUSH WORK STATION provides a simple and convenient way to keep you organized. Easily mount your AIR-PORT™ with its sturdy mounting magnets anywhere you work! It magnetically attaches to metal surfaces with excellent reliability. Or, you can bolt it to a desired location for permanent mounting. Made of solid 18-gauge steel construction with a powder-coated finish, the AIR-PORT™ holds 3 airbrushes and all your airbrushing supplies, so you can keep focused on your work and not be wondering "Where did I put that... !?"

Air-Port™ Magnetic Mounting - KJ 200 - $149.95
Dimensions - 9"w X 5"d X 2.5"h / Weight - 4 lbs

Air-Port™ Bolt-On Mounting (Non Magnetic) - KJ 201 - $129.95
Dimensions - 9"w X 5"d X 2.5"h / Weight - 3 lbs

Individual Air-Port HANGER!

The AIR-PORT HANGER ™ will hang most styles of airbrushes. It's adjustable hanging positions accommodate for the most varying types of airbrush shapes and feed types. The AIR-PORT HANGER ™ is constructed of solid 18 guage steel for long lasting durability. It will attach securely to most metal surfaces by its powerful magentic mounting magent, or it can be bolted permanently to any work area.

Air-Port™ Hanger Magnetic Mounting - KJ 100 - $24.95

Air-Port™ Hanger Bolt-On Mounting (Non Magnetic) - KJ 101 - $19.95

These Karajen products are available exclusively through Iwata-Medea.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel...

2008-01-25T17:35:00.000-08:00

You know the old saying, "there's light at the end of the tunnel". It usually implies that things may be looking sour now but better days are ahead. But the occasional pessimist may reply that the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train - a real signal of trouble!

It's the ECONOMY... stupid! An over used cliche in my opinion, but today this silly phrase has real resonance and meaning. If your watching the news or financial channels or listening to the Presidential primary debates the message is pretty clear - what to do about the slowing economy? Did the housing bubble bursting cause this? Is a recession looming?

For what its worth, technically speaking, a recession is 2 consecutive quarters, or 6 months, of negative GDP growth. Some people describe it as 2 consecutive quarters where consumer confidence is below 100. This is a broad based national average and doesn't necessarily reflect the sentiments and feelings of every consumer. But it is important since it is one of the indicators economists use in predicting a recession.

While I'm definitely not an economic expert, I try and keep a keen ear to the ground to understand what is happening. It's no secret that the cost of things like food, gas, raw materials and other necessities is rising. Economists measure these cost as the CPI or Consumer Price Index. These are costs most of us feel directly day to day. The weak US dollar doesn't help rising costs either as many of the goods we purchase are imported making them more expensive. It also makes going to Mexico or Europe for vacation unappealing from a cost standpoint.

The CPI

These rising costs make me feel uneasy about spending. Maybe I won't buy that new car this year, rather just spend the money on some maintenance. Since I carry weakened greenbacks, perhaps I should postpone an overseas vacation this year and take a quick weekend at the Oregon Coast instead. This feeling I have about my personal economic situation is tracked by economists as well. It is measured by the CCI the Consumer Confidence Index or Consumer sentiment.

The CCI

When economists look at the two, the CPI is increasing and the CCI is decreasing. This means consumer money available to spend is tightening and the money that they do have they are less likely to spend. AND since economists say that the consumer represents 70% of US economic activity the combination of the two are key indicators of a looming recessionary period.

To be fair, since December I attended two separate presentations by well known economists. I will attend a 3rd presentation in February. This is how I came about much of this information, but it is readily available on the web. The message is, that these indicators and others suggest that we are 50 - 50% likely heading toward a recession. Recently the Federal Government outlined a $150 billion Economic Stimulus Package that was presented to congress. This is a response to unfavorable trends and indicators, so you can safely assume that they see a recession coming too. Or at the very least an economic downturn.

The Train.... or is it?

So the question on everyone's mind who reads this blog is this. WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH AIRBRUSHING? Well if you think about it, everything. As a company, Iwata Medea has to be smarter and more astute with things like budgets, cash and inventory. Similarly we sell to businesses who have similar functions and constraints in regards to budgets, cash and inventory. In turn they sell to professional and amateur artists who have the same concerns, etc. So when you see the channel in its entirety it becomes pretty clear how a recession or economic downturn effects everything. But is this a bad thing?

Victor Hugo once said, "Necessity is the mother of invention." In my 21 years in the airbrush market I've have witnessed the incredible creativity and resilient nature of the airbrush user. I've been around long enough to know of:
- the early days of photo retouching with airbrush
- the van mural days of the 7o's
- the great airbrush illustration period in the 80's
- the mania around T-Shirt and "mall" airbrushing
- the airbrush fingernail days
- the body art bonanza
- the airbrush tanning faze
- and the renaissance of the van mural days but now with a more pronounced Custom Painting on bikes and cars craze

At some point all of these "airbrush happenings" lost some steam and wider appeal. And the bounty of work associated with these periods also went away. In many cases, only a few niche players are still left standing. As markets became old and fads and trends subsided, new markets were being born.

From my perspective, this uncertainty in our economy is an exciting opportunity for those who are well prepared. Think about it, there are so many other opportunities to paint and use artistic talents to create all types of new things. For example, professional custom painter Mike Lavallee is crafting and creating a new product called F-Bombs. These are great little works of art that are fun to create and have appealing resale value. In the past, Mike also had even done some custom painted PC cases for Dell! Automotive painting guru Craig Fraser is doing work with guitar companies and even doing tattoos! Renowned Hawaiian Custom Painter Dennis Mathewson is delving into the Fine Art market with great success! Simply put, they are all diversifying, creating other niches for their creative output. They are creating demand in some ways where none existed!

Objects d'arte!

The point I'm trying to make is that in spite of what you may hear and read, trust your instincts and use your creativity. In the hands of a creative professional an airbrush and a jar of paint can transform any object into a work of art.

Hopefully at the end of 2008 we will all be saying to ourselves, that was light at the end of the tunnel and not a train. The next great ride for the airbrush has yet to be discovered!

Neglect During the Holidayz

2007-12-20T14:37:00.000-08:00

As I a struggle to prepare for the holidays, I have realized that I have neglected this blog long enough.

My apologies.

Here's some other pics from our booth at SEMA!

Top to Bottom: Me with Nick and Mike Lavallee; Legends Dave Perewitz, Dennis Mathewson and Arlen Ness; Ron Gibbs signing his life away!

Top to Bottom: With Karajen Creator Cliff Silverman; Airbrush Guru's Javier Soto and Ryan "Ryno" Templeton from the hit show Trick My Truck; "the day after" - Fraser & Vandemon.

Also, as promised here are some pics from the SEMA Party we sponsored with Coast Airbrush, Anest Iwata USA, House of Kolor, Airbrush Action, Artool Products and System One.

Top to Bottom: Gabe McCubbin (Artool), Brooke Cedros and Dan Joyce from Iwata Medea; the Party Sponsors; Craig Fraser and Skip Chance (HOK).

Top to Bottom: Uh oh! with Mike Lavallee and Will Naemura; Will, Satoru Iwata, a friend, Mr. Tsubota and another friend???; Mark Hebbeler from AI-US in the pool?

Top to Bottom: With Pamela Shanteau, Robert Baugh (HOK) and the new Deborah Mahan-Baugh; with Los Muchachos!; its not a party without the legendary Bob Spina.

It was a rowdy party and very crowded. Over 300 people attended. Unfortunately we ran out of our alotted tickets and some people couldn't get in. If you are one of these people who could not get in, again, my sincerest apologies. Happy NEW YEAR!

2007 SEMA Recap

2007-11-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

Well, 2007 was no different then any other SEMA in years past. Yeah sure we were experimenting in a new location. Without a doubt it was still a successful show for us at Iwata-Medea and Artool. Instead of going through a long winded report on the show, I'd rather just let the pics speak for themselves at this year's SEMA experience.
Without further adieu, on with the show!

The Iwata-Medea-Artool booth was FILLED with all sorts of unbelievable creations. This year, panels were painted by renowned artists, Deb Mahan, Craig Fraser, Mike Lavallee & Nick, Pamela Shanteau, Dennis Mathewson and Steve Vandemon! We also had the new Killerpaint F'Bombs which were quite the hit. Fiberglass tiki's painted by Mickey Harris, Canadian RatFink - Ron Gibbs and the Tiki Master himself, Dennis Mathewson.

Peeps in the booth left to right:
AD Cook, Nick & Mike from ASET, Mark Hebbeler from AI-US, Will Naemura, Gabe McCubbin from Artool, "Ryno" Templeton from Trick My Truck, Pamela Shanteau and husband Donn, ME, Brooke Cedros, Debra Mahan and David Monnig from Coast Airbrush.

The booth featuring the killer Gwen Stefani Guitar by Killerpaint and Mike Lavallee.

Mark from AI-US rented a cart-thingy due to his broken leg in a cast. Forget the broken leg, I don't know why anybody would choose to walk the SEMA show without using one of these things! I didn't even come close to walking the whole show and my feet were on FIRE every night! OUCH! Mark had the right idea. By the way it was a fast little bugger.

Speaking of little buggers, check this one out in our booth this year. A completely radical-tricked out Yamaha Rhino courtesy of Coast Airbrush!

...Some SERIOUS Eye Candy...

The glamorous drag racer, Leah Pruett and her fabulous Hearbreaker 1969 Mustang Mach 1 Nostalgia funny car.

We are one of the lucky sponsors!

Iwata Medea and Artool Crew with Leah!

Craig Fraser's killer Caddy!

The Crew with Craig.

That's it for now, my next post will include more SEMA 2007 pics and pics from the NOW FAMOUS, Custom Painting Confidential III SEMA party!

Attending SEMA 2007? Bring your checkbook!

2007-10-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

SEMA 2007, Booth #12360 - North Hall
OCT 30 - NOV 2

SEMA, our favorite show of the year. Well, we really don't have a particularly favorite show; but certainly our most expensive. Its amazing how much has changed in Las Vegas over the years.

I remember my first trip to Vegas in 1991. At the time I was working at Binks Mfg. and my boss and I drove down to Vegas after a show in LA. We stayed at a cheap hotel on the north end of the strip. Back in 1991 the Excalibur was the newest hotel on the strip, we decided to try our luck there. At the time, it was the first real specialty-theme hotel-casino. I'll never forget playing roulette there and winning $750 right before dinner. We decided to have dinner that night at the Jousting Match-thingy they do. Kind of like Medieval Times - you know, eat with your hands, yell at the wenches to bring more mutton and chicken and all that stuff. After dinner my boss headed back to the hotel and I headed back to the tables. Of course, about three hours later, I had gone bust. I had no money and no ability to get any more. With no money for a cab I ended up walking back to our hotel alone the whole length of the strip at about 1:00am. A real walk of shame. Along the way I passed by many other bankrupted patrons and a few of Las Vegas's more interesting people. I realized then that the real winners in Vegas were the casinos - chalk it up as a lesson learned. You would think after taking my cash then and that of countless other suckers through the years that the Excalibur could have at least updated the carpeting in that place? YUK!

Back in 1991 Vegas was a place where a little bit of cash went a long way. One could find good breakfasts all over town for cheap ($1.99 at Denny's); hotels were $19.95 at some places and newer places were like $40 bux a night! Man you could even go and eat a fancy buffet for about $10 bux! If you were coming to gamble, (and I don't mean like the "whales" do), the better hotels would sometimes pay for your flight or your room or BOTH to come stay and gamble at their place. In 1991 you NEVER had a problem finding a $5 blackjack table and drinks were always free and plentiful! I guess they still are, but you got to put in the time at the tables.

Today's Vegas is much more about big money and how much you'll spend on entertainment, restaurants and gambling. To me the common term "Sin City" now refers to the guilt you feel for all the money you spend on a typical trip to Vegas these days. Vegas used to be VEGAS, but now it has become Disney World, except for adults. In my opinion from an expense standpoint it now rivals that of any typical major city like New York or Chicago. As companies we used to look forward to doing trade shows in Vegas; there was always stuff to do and places to eat; and it usually didn't break the bank. Granted there are the occasional deals, but those are now few and far between.

Its definitely not your grandma's Las Vegas anymore. See you there! Booth 12360, North Hall.

Air Affair 2007 - Salt Lake City

2007-09-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Airbrush fever in Utah!

The Ultimate Air Affair is a fantasy land for anyone interested in airbrush technique. Held yearly at our distributor's headquarters (ASET in Salt Lake City, Utah), is a 3-day running workshop program featuring instruction by some of the worlds top airbrush artists. Not only do attendees get the opportunity to learn from a great team of artists, (and get a first hand test-drive of Iwata Airbrushes and Artool Templates) they can also gawk and ogle at all the eye candy of work featured in the art gallery. This years artist roster at the Air Affair included:

Craig Fraser
Deborah Mahan
Fonzy
Abel
Dean Loucks
Bob Soroka
Gerald Mendez
Bones
Steve Vandemon
Jason Doll
Ron Gibbs
Ryno Templeton
Mike Lavallee
Dennis Mathewson
Steve Driscoll
Paul Quinn
Pamela Shanteau

Sherri Candland of ASET does a fantastic job of organizing the event. Even though the focal point of Air Affair is the learning and interaction with the artists themselves, Sherri also puts out quite the food and beverages spread coupled with her own special blend of down-home hospitality. There are also various vendor booths and freebies available to attendees! But the grand finale at at the end of the Air Affair ,is the raffle featuring some killer donations by both vendors and artist instructors. In my opinion, one of the best raffle prizes is a custom painted and signed panel by all of the artist instructors! Definitely a one of a kind collectible.

I highly recommend anyone interested in learning more valuable airbrush techniques, no matter what the discipline, to attend Air Affair East or Air Affair Salt Lake in 2008. If you want to plan on attending at one of next years events, call Sherri direct at ASET 800-628-5449. You will not be disappointed.

Here's some pics to wet your appetite for next year! Some of these pics are courtesy of Donn and Pamela Shanteau.

Check out this killer Monkey's guitar by Ron Gibbs!

Myself with Ryno of Trick My Truck and Mark Hebbeler from Anest Iwata USA.

A ultra-kewl hand-carved tiki by Dennis Mathewson

Craig Fraser, and his new short hair, gives the new Triple Action Handle a test spin!

Artist in Residence, Literally

2007-07-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

We here at Iwata Medea are a very fortunate bunch.

In our minds, we get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the country in Portland, Oregon; our local basketball team [Trail Blazers] just got Greg Oden; and we have the best airbrush products in the world to promote and distribute in Iwata. However, one of the most fortunate situations that we currently enjoy is having a respected and distinguished airbrush expert right here in our building!

Kirk Lybecker is one of America’s foremost and successful fine-artists. He is represented in galleries locally and nationally and has won numerous prestigious awards. He specializes in hyper-realism and most of his subject matter is flowers and exotic plants, (typically in watercolor), and architectural [urban] imagery, (typically in oil paints). As you can see, his painting style is beautifully matched with the capabilities of the airbrush.

As an educator he has also taught many classes on airbrush technique across the country. As a requirement, new employees are indoctrinated into the world of airbrush by getting to “spend a day with Kirk” on their first day of job. Having a first-hand understanding about our airbrushes and compressors is a vital for all employees regardless of their title or position. Besides, spending a day with Kirk is like spending the day with any “guru”. You hear the passion in his voice for the airbrush and its many splendors and you’ll be able to see the pain in his face as he talks about the carnage he occasionally endures if someone returns abused or mistreated airbrushes for repair. Alas, there is no land for Misfit airbrushes.

Kirk is also our in-house Technical Advisor and Airbrush Specialist here at Iwata Medea. His gallery and studio is in our building as well. On any given day Kirk is often seen by our staff meandering around the office discussing the finer points of “relative airbrush theory” or listening to his newly favorite audio book while working on his next masterpiece. Imagine this, for us having Kirk in our midst is like having Mario Batali as the Chef at your local family restaurant or Mario Andretti instructing at your local driving school. Here are five questions from a discussion I had with Kirk and his replies.

How did you first get introduced to airbrush technique?
A. I first saw an airbrush being used in graduate school. There was an artist who was doing some things with an airbrush that I really was impressed by. When we graduated I bought his whole rig, paint, brush, and compressor. I was doing oil paint at the time and having quite a problem keeping the brush clean. About then I took over a watercolor class for a year and found that the airbrush was much more useful with the watercolor than in the oil paint.

As an artist, what motivated you to include the airbrush as a tool in your own work?
A. Simply put, I am lazy. Or shall I say I am not an advocate of unnecessary work. The airbrush can do things that are difficult if not impossible to do any other way. So either learn how to make even transparent washes or use an airbrush. Artists through out history have been of the mind that if a tool works for a particular job, that is the tool to use.

What airbrush in your stable of airbrushes is your “secret weapon”?
A. I find that the Custom Micron series of brushes tends to be my main tool. It is one for the high end details, the things that make a painting pop. I also like the Eclipse CS. When it first came out I didn’t think much of it but I am now a believer. It is my brush for most of the general shading of things. I also use it on the oil paintings as I can use the .5mm nozzle. This is an easy brush to clean and does not seem to be bothered by thicker paint. I also am a big fan of the LPH 50 because it will cover a large area and put down a drop-dead flat wash.

Who are some of your favorite artists that use airbrush?
A. Audrey Flack, John Salt, Don Eddy and Daniel Tennant. Keep in mind that the best airbrush work will never let you see it.

What is ONE IMPORTANT piece of advice you can give to a new airbrush user?
A. Take a class. There are so many things and tricks that will make your experience better. The airbrush is not a particularly intuitive tool. (I know this because I had to teach myself and I can’t say I care to learn things that way) A good teacher will show you how to clean and maintain your brush. This will make your life much easier.

Fast facts about Kirk Lybecker

* He personally does the repairs on each airbrush that is sent in for repair. Fortunately there aren’t many, so he spends good quality time on those he does get.
* Although Anest Iwata in Japan tests every airbrush prior to delivery to Portland, Kirk personally inspects and re-tests every Iwata Custom Micron a second time prior to shipment to our customers. See for yourself!

* Kirk tests all new products prior to it going to market. You’ll often here him say “Ah a new toy for me to try?”
* He loves to golf almost as much as he loves to paint.
* Kirk’s wife is also an artist

Check out Kirk at www.lybeckerstudios.com or maybe call him here at the office!

Sneak Peak: A new book by Pamela Shanteau

2007-06-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that we are really excited about the publishing of our first very first book, Custom Automotive & Motorcycle Airbrushing 101 written by Pamela Shanteau. This new hard-cover book is 160 color pages and is sure to grace the library of artists all over the world. The foreword is by none-other than the guru of Kustom himself, Craig Fraser.

While this is our first publishing attempt, it is Pamela's second published book. Her first book the Ultimate Airbrush Handbook continues to be a huge success and inspire new airbrushers around the world. I've decided to dedicate this post to a bit of the dialogs I've had with Pam and her husband Donn in regards to this new book. Enjoy!

Pamela Shanteau Reflections

The upcoming release of my second book gives me occasion to pause and reflect on my profession and how I arrived at this point in my career. After twenty five years of airbrushing professionally, I was asked to write my first book “The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook”. It gave me the opportunity to share the “in person” Pamela Shanteau class experience with readers worldwide. I was aided in this Endeavour by a cadre of great airbrush artists that specialized in some of the airbrush disciplines that I do not practice. Their intimate knowledge of their areas of expertise greatly enhanced the content of the book.

"The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook" also afforded me the chance to demonstrate why I chose the tools and materials that I use. An artist is only as good as his or her tools. I prefer to paint with the finest materials available because they enhance my art and help make it the best that it can be. Iwata airbrushes and spray-guns play a big part in my successes. They perform at the highest level and they offer an air-gun or airbrush to match all my painting needs. I know that I can count on their quality and their long lasting performance because they are built with the finest materials and manufactured to the tightest tolerances.

Airbrushing in the automotive arena requires more than just a dependable airbrush. The paints that I use are some of the finest available in the world. RM brands (BASF) such as Carizzma, Diamont and Extreme give me the flexibility to get the effects that I am seeking. Their formulations enable me to paint efficiently and cost effectively.

When I am called upon to produce art in the fine art or commercial illustration venues, I use many pigment choices depending on what I am painting. Again, I use the finest pigments that I can find. Com-Art paints, Claybord Inks and Holbein Aeroflash colors have always seen me through the toughest assignments and performed perfectly. When metal is not the substrate to be airbrushed, I paint on Claybord. Claybord is a hard board similar to a Masonite panel and is covered with a smooth coating of clay. It was created and intended to be used by fine artists. I have found it to be the best airbrushing surface available in the world. Painting on Claybord has enabled me to push my airbrushing skills and art techniques to the limit. In addition to its superb construction, it has the highest archival rating of any painting substrate available anywhere.

The occasion of writing a second book about automotive airbrushing (which is my favorite airbrush discipline), afforded me the chance to introduce the world to the unique techniques I use to create my airbrushed artwork on vehicles. These are not recycled tricks that have been seen over and over. To my knowledge, they have never been used by any automotive painter before and have never been demonstrated or explained in any automotive painting book or video production. Iwata gave me the chance to finally share these previously secret techniques with airbrush painters across the globe in the new book “Custom Automotive and Motorcycle Airbrushing 101”. As always, Iwata is on the cutting edge of airbrush painting which is where we all want to be, that is why they decided to publish this book.

In addition to exposing my airbrushing secrets where I combine fine art technique with more normal airbrushing methods, I instruct and inform the reader on my methods of rendering art and lettering on metal along with the tools and materials that every airbrush painter needs in their arsenal. As always, Iwata went first class with this book, it features a hardback cover and wonderful color photos. The editing and layout by A.D. Cook and Zookeeper is first rate and the photos by my husband Donn “Too Tall” Shanteau are clean and crisp. Everyone involved with this book should be proud.

I truly have been blessed to have progressive companies like Iwata, Ampersand (Claybord) and BASF (RM paints) in my corner. Their first class products and people inspire me to continually strive to be the best I can be. I am sure that “Custom Automotive and Motorcycle Airbrushing 101" will be well received by the airbrushing and auto painting community and personally I look forward to my future automotive and motorcycle painting exploits while partnering with the greatest companies in the world.

Paint Long and Prosper

Pamela Shanteau

Available NOW! Look for Custom Automotive & Motorcycle Airbrushing 101 at your favorite Iwata & Artool retailers and bookstores!

A Special Thanks To Friends In JAPAN

2007-05-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

They say a picture can speak a thousand words.

So, what is with this picture? Is it a chicken? Is it a big bottle of Strawberry milk? Is it a culture knock on western boxing in the same vein as those stuffed "Sumo" wrestlers you see during the half-time of sporting events here in the states? If you are Japanese and you probably know exactly what this picture is. Did you see the movie Lost in the Translation with Bill Murray (a Chicago guy) and Scarlett Johansson, (my favorite actress)? To me the movie is a poetically accurate reflection of how it is to be a westerner in Japan. Aside from the obvious; opposite lane driving, language, writing and food issues, there is also a different way about their humor and their spin on entertainment. In all it is a bit atypical for a westerner.

While there are somethings that may appear odd or strange in Japan, there is one constant that reaches cultures and countries around the world, Iwata airbrushes from Japan are simply the very best airbrushes in the world. So in this post I want to acknowledge our friends of THE AIRBRUSH TEAM at Anest Iwata Japan who make sure that this is the reality. They are the hub of our efforts here in the USA and around the world and help keep the products flowing out of the factory. They help push innovative new products from conception through production. They make sure that every Iwata airbrush remain at the highest quality levels; setting the exacting standards for excellence of all airbrushes. But most importantly, they are real people behind the scenes in Japan who take their responsibilities very seriously. They know that the artists who use Iwata products are depend on them to ultimately satisfy their airbrush needs. Personally, I want to say thanks to them for everything they do for us.

The ABT Manager: Satoru Iwata - here smoking in a "smokers box". Kind of like a penalty box in hockey, but for smoking - (odd). Satoru is the guy who moves mountains in Japan for us. He is more than a liason to us, he's a friend to the entire airbrush industry. Thanks Satoru!

The Assistant Manager and Domestic sales: Mr. Ikeda-san; diligent, detailed and hard-working. Thanks Ikeda-san.

The Executive Assistant: Ms. Saito-san, professional, personable, fun and very fashionable. Thanks Saito-san!

The Airbrush Team; a small group who do BIG things.

Ok, now I'm in a similiar costume. Look at the background, NOW do you know what that was in the first picture? It was a Bowling PIN (strange), only in Japan!!! Mr. Suzuki, our purchasing contact is the guy in the Pink Bowling Pin in the first picture above. He is the man who gets our stuff out the door on time and accurately. Thanks Suzuki!

Feel free to post a special thanks to them too if you wish.

A Little Break

2007-04-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but I've been really busy since my last post. So much so that I haven't had the time to do an update.

Tomorrow I'm leaving to go back to "Sweethome" Chicago for some time away from work and to spend time with my family and friends I left behind 8 years ago. While I'm in Chicago, I will be taking in some fun local attractions; I have tickets for the Cubs opener at Wrigley and later I'll head to the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium (the ocean by the lake) for a bit of culture. I'm sure that I'll take in a few pints at one, or a few, of the many fine establishments in the Windy City. I'll definitely eat a lot of Italian Beef and Pizza as well because, as they say, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

So, I'll just keep it short for now. Stay tuned as I'll have some new airbrush related material in the next few weeks to add to this blog.

A Little Bit O' Skullduggery For Ya Matey...

2007-02-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, time for another absolutely SHAMELESS promotional post. I've learned that some readers actually like some of this stuff, so until a complete revolt happens, I'm going to continue to endorse some of our products here from time to time.

This time I have got something special to talk about. Something that only comes around once in a blue moon, maybe even once in a lifetime! Pretty dramatic stuff huh? Well, the fiendish ghouls at Artool have done it again! ARTOOL Products Company, Inc. recently released the NEW Limited Edition SKULLMASTER SERIES Template Set by the Master of Skulls himself, Craig Fraser.

This isn't your ordinary ARTOOL SkullMaster Set, this is the COMPLETE ANTHOLOGY of ALL SkullSeries templates ever created by Fraser! As a BONUS this set includes a special Limited Edition Template, SKULLDUGGERY! This may be the most outrageous template Fraser has ever created! This new SKULLDUGGERY template is EXCLUSIVELY available ONLY in the Limited Edition SKULLMASTER SERIES Template Set!

But, ONLY 500 pieces of this Ulitmate collectors set will be available. Each set is sequentially numbered from 001-500. Each set is beautifully encased in top grain black leather-etched binder. This binder houses every ARTOOL SkullMaster Signature Series Template ever designed by Fraser. Just think 25 years from now you could sell this set and it could be a great retirement nest egg. And if not, well you'll still be able to break these stencils out and decorate your bathroom in a neo-classical skull motif. Just think about the grand kid's reaction to skulls on the toilet seat!

Just so you know, I have my own set. It's number 431. SO, the good numbers are still out there, and remember, when they are gone, they are GONE! Get yours now!

SEMA Recap Pt. 2

2007-01-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! After a nice break during the holidays I'm ready to post to this blog again. As promised here is part 2 of the SEMA post.

I'm so behind.

Already so much has (and is) happening since the SEMA show ended. Therefore, instead of a long drawn out, descriptive and poorly written post, I'm going to keep this one short and just recap our SEMA party, Airbrush Confidential II.

If you are in the airbrush industry, you may have already heard about Airbrush Confidential I during last year's SEMA. We promised that Airbrush Confidential II would be bigger and better than 2005, and we delivered.

In 2006, Airbrush Confidential II was held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at the Grotto, pool side. It was a special party. The guest list was limited to professional Artists in the Kustom automotive industry and of course key industry professionals. With that said, we had over 200 people attend! A veritable who's who in Kustom Kulture were in attendance, even AJ from Overhaulin stopped by! ACII was a great forum for friends past and present to get together, share the past year war-stories and socialize with people whom they may only see during events like this. It is just one way of saying thanks to the Artists for all they do for us and the industry; both directly and indirectly.

The inaugural party last year featured 4 founding sponsors. This year we increased our sponsorship to 7 companies which allowed us to increase the guest list and move into a larger, more desirable venue. This years sponsors were, Artool Products, Airbrush Action Magazine, Coast Airbrush, ASET, Iwata Medea, House of Kolor and 3M. Many thanks need to go to the sponsors for all their support, without them all we could not have had such a tremendous event. Thanks again, and stay tuned for details on ACIII!

SEMA 2006 RECAP Part.1

2006-12-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

OK, after a much needed break I'm ready to do the recap from our first year as a exhibitor at SEMA. Since it was such a huge show and so much to share I decided to break it up into 2 parts. Therefore, on with part 1.

It all began with Will Naemura and I taking a flight down to So.Cal to pick up our booth. It had been fabricated by a local company Brushed Metal Design which is owned by a very talented Tony Anderson. Needless to say when we arrived and saw our new booth we were floored! It was much much more impressive than we could have ever imagined. After a quick tutorial on how to disassemble and reassemble the booth, we packed it up, loaded it into our rental truck and headed for VEGAS.

We were making good time to Vegas when we hit a traffic jam just outside of Baker, CA. Traffic eventually slowed to a halt. After about 15 minutes we put the vehicle in park, after 30 minutes we shut the vehicle off. After the first hour Will pulled out his laptop and started pecking away at the keys. After 90 minutes I changed my Ipod from Alternative to Classical so I could relax and maybe nap. It was more than 2 hours after we first stopped before we were able to continue. There had been an accident and both directions of HWY 15 were shut down. It was quite the mess. We finally ended up getting into Vegas by 1 am.

The next morning came early as we headed out to get in line to load our gear into the convention center. Much to our delight, there were hardly any other trucks queued so we unloaded quickly and got busy setting up the booth. After two days of set up and many different configurations and struggles to organize the booth in a sane and logical manner, we finally discovered the perfect layout.

I need to mention that I was quite impressed at how SEMA could manage such a huge logistical challenge like the SEMA show. SEMA is now the largest show in Vegas, its so huge that they even have to have exhibits outside, in the parking lot! But the good folks working the show, especially the floor and show managers, did an outstanding job serving all of our needs. This made our first go around as an exhibitor alot less painful.

As you can see in the pictures our booth was filled with a ton of "eye-candy". Lets start off with the main feature - the back drop. Our brushed aluminum design depicted a wall-of-flames with the logos of our 3 brands cut into it. The logos themselves were back lit colored Plexiglas in the traditional color of each brand: Anest Iwata in blue; Iwata in red, Artool in yellow. But, the primary and most impressive feature of the backdrop was the gallery of artwork behind the wall, suspended above the flames. There were a series of 4 paintings representing the diversity and the tremendous artwork being created in the custom painting industry.

Dennis Mathewson painted a dreamy but off-the-hook landscape in Hawaii that featured a custom hot-rod on the road.

Next was an over-the-top fire breathing dragon done by the master of fire himself, Mike Lavallee.

A monochromatic Pirate theme was painted by the dynamic duo of Craig Fraser and Debra Mahan, in typical Fraser fashion you need to look for a long time to find all of the hidden little treasures painted within!

Not to be outdone was the extreme tribal-skull-totem perfected by master artist and craftsman Steve Vandemon. Steve's painting was "electric" and completed the wall perfectly.

Of course there was so much more to see in our booth. Airbrush guru Pamela Shanteau helped with our VEGAS motif with a set of KILLER CARD paintings that adorned various places in the booth. Dave Monnig of Coast Airbrush kindly donated some of his Kustom Kulture Lounge furniture and the "show favorite", pin-up statues. There wasn't a minute that went buy without some guy cracking some kind of joke before getting their picture taken with a statue! We also had a Killer-Painted working retro refrigerator from Mike Lavallee. It came fully stocked with energy drinks! That stuff made us all whacked during the show!

But the star of the show in our booth was Marc Martino's Kamikaze Trike. Outrageous was an often used word by many of the show attendees; in my mind outrageous is an understatement.

Thanks to everyone who helped us put our best foot forward in our first attempt at SEMA. Many of those people were representatives from our sister company, Anest Iwata USA, Gabe McCubbin from Artool and our automotive market distributor ASET. And last but not least a very special thanks to our staff at Iwata Medea who did a tremendous job and put up with my stressing-out and bossiness. Will, Brooke, Joanna, Tony, AD, Kathy and Robert - THANKS! Also, special thanks to Donn Shanteau for letting me use some of his pictures to illustrate this blog.

Coming next Part 2, the sights and sounds heard around SEMA 2006. Also, I hope you like the new look.

SEMA 2006 recap... almost

2006-11-17T17:57:00.000-08:00

SEMA 2006, what a great first show for us at Iwata Medea. It was a ton of work, but worth it. There is a bunch of stuff to write about, and I really want to share with everyone the experiences from this years' SEMA, but I'm going to have to wait to do that recap.

The other day, Ken from Badger Airbrush sent me a note and asked, "how do you have time to do that blog?" My answer was, "I don't." The proof is in this and other recent short posts. The good news is in the next few weeks I will MAKE the time to do a full recap - so please check back then. In the meantime, here's a few pictures to wet your appetite.

Are you going to SEMA?

2006-10-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we're almost ready. Tomorrow, Iwata Medea will begin our trek on the odyssey that is SEMA. It will be our first year (Iwata Medea) as an exhibitor, we're prepared, excited and yet quite nervous. Typical tradeshow stuff, will the shipment arrive? Will everyone's reservations be ok? Will people come to our booth? It is kind of like when you throw a party and are worried that no one will come. Thankfully, with SEMA, attendance won't be a problem.

Every year, tens of thousands of automotive enthusiasts make their yearly pilgramge to the desert in Las Vegas. This year a crowd close to 200,000 will pack the Las Vegas Convention Center and nearby properties to get a glimps of the newest, coolest and hottest that the automotive after market has to offer.

We'll be there, booth # 23697 in the Central Hall. Will you be?

BUYER BEWARE!

2006-09-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Honestly, we're flattered.

Like most everything of high quality these days, the airbrush is not immune to knock offs and generic copies, especially our brand - Iwata. One would think that the airbrush industry is small enough to be insulated from such pettyness, but its not. Copies abound on almost every one of our models from Revolution to Micron series, and there seems to be no end to the madness.

The madness is beginnning to spiral as users are buying cheap imitations from places like China and Taiwan. Then they try and pass them off on places like ebay where they claim that "these are authentic Iwata brushes, straight from the factory."

They are not.

Even some of our very own wholesale customers have ventured down into this abyss. Under the guise of "it's just marketing 101", and their enlightened wisdom, they have decided to pursue their own "house brands" then pass them off to unsuspecting consumers as Iwata Light - Iwata Quality and Performance without the cost.

Amateurs.

We occaisionally get calls from customers who claim that "so-and-so says that Iwata makes this brand for them..." Or "...are Brand X's airbrushes Made by Iwata?"

Truth be told, Iwata does not and will not make anyone elses "airbrush brand X". Cheap makers private label for other companies, why would we compromise our brand name and image by manufacturing things for others? It doesn't make good sense.

Don't do these guys any favors and buy knock offs of any kind, and I'm not just talking about airbrushes, i'm talking TV's, radios, ipods, shoes, watches ~ anything! Even though you think you're getting a "sweet deal" you're not. In many cases you're buying stolen intellectual property or products forged in fly-by-night factories. Products with inferior materials, poor manufacture and most often - no support or warranty.

Trust me, you're not sticking it to "the big corporations" by doing so. You're only hurting quality makers and the faithful people who have worked hard over many year building and supporting you the artist and the airbrush industry. Buying cheap knock-offs only hinders the efforts of established and proactive companies to create and ultimately support, quality airbrush products. Which only hurts you, the aritst, in the end.

Remember if it doesn't say IWATA, it is NOT IWATA.

Charlotte Airbrush Action Getaway

2006-06-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

Instead of taking up space with the same ol' rants, I am just going to post some photos from the most recent Airbrush Action Getaway in Charlotte, NC. It was another great event and classes were filled to the gills! And this year, special guest artist, Dru Blair taught a photo realism class!

One newsworthy note, Cliff Steiglitz, Publisher of Airbrush Action Magazine welcomed his first child into the world this spring, Sophia. Congratulations Cliff!

An Overdue Trip to BEANTOWN

2006-05-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Every year our trade association (NAMTA) hosts its annual convention. NAMTA is the acronym for National Art Materials Trade Association, and this year the convention was held in Boston.

Like most people these days, I'm less excited about travel, long lines at the airport, delays, and long flight times from Portland. I become even less interested when the travel involved takes me to a tradeshow. The NAMTA show is like many typical trade shows, its open to the trade only (art supply stores and distributors) its days are usually wrought with early mornings, late nights where dinners are late and drinks are plenty. Usually there are days at a time without breakfast or lunch (at least in my case I pass on breakfast in trade for extra sleep).

Our booth at Boston NAMTA

Travel and tradeshows sound fun but living out of a suitcase can be a very unglamorous business. Attending a tradeshow and "working the booth" at the tradeshow offer two entirely different experiences. Personally, I prefer to attend the tradeshow rather than work it; although there are some here at Iwata-Medea that contest my tradeshow participation and say that even when I'm supposed to be "working" a tradeshow, I've really only "attended" it. At a tradeshow your booth becomes your home away from home for a few days. NAMTA is no different than any other tradeshow in this respect. During the show, slow times can mean the constant retelling of old stories and the bantering of bad jokes. And missed meals throughout the day are often supplemented with Snickers bars, Hershey's Kisses and Starburst Fruit Chews. During slow periods, the combination of sitting for long periods of time and only eating candy makes for a very fattening situation. The alternative is eating overpriced tradeshow fair. Trust me when I say, the choice of eating "tradeshow food" isn't really much of a choice; stick with the candy.

With all that griping aside, this year I was looking forward to attending the NAMTA show in Boston. Perhaps it was because it was in Boston! Being originally from Chicago I've always felt that if Chicago had a true sister city, it would be Boston. Although Boston is a smaller city, it has the same neighborhood charm as Chicago, great architecture and history. Its a great sport town and is littered with great restaurants. Boston is also an intellectual hotbed with great Universities and Museums sprawled out in ever direction. Its also well know for its political discord and perpetual downtown construction - aaahh the sound of jackhammers and the bombastic cussing of union workers - all music to my ears. But the people of Boston, like in Chicago, take the cake. Some of the most entertaining conversations you'll ever hear are accented in that unmistakable Bostonian tone. I'm very comfortable in Boston and feel very much at home there.

It should be said that I haven't attended a NAMTA show in the last 3 years. The thing I was looking most forward to was catching up with my friends and acquaintances from NAMTA shows in years past. Being able to visit with most of our customers and spend good time chatting with our field sales representatives always makes this show a worthwhile business expense. For the most part, NAMTA is the only opportunity we get to see most of these people. After the grind of the tradeshow day there are some benefits. I was treated to a Red Sox game by my friend David "the Mayor" Ingraham from Artist Mercantile. Also during the stay I enjoyed some great dinner at some of Boston's great restaurants with fellow Iwata-Medea staff Brooke Cedros, Joanna Chan and Robert Paschal. Best of all was watching Robert Paschal tear up the dance floor at the hotel bar. It was like watching Dancing with the Stars, except better.

Its too bad, but it seems every year the industry gets a bit smaller (people just aren't in a hurry to open up art materials supply stores any longer) and NAMTA attendance is dwindling. NAMTA has tried its best to do its part in making our yearly pilgrimage a fun and prosperous experience. With the many mixers and parties and open forums for debate and great access to its directors and staff, I believe that consistent participation by our fellow members can really help our little industry flourish in years to come. SO, if you are in the Art Materials business and you didn't attend NAMTA, rethink about attending in the future. The industry needs its members to participate. Like with anything you'll get out of it what you are willing to put in. Besides, you missed out on some great moments that will be new material for your future story telling sessions.

Some photos of Airbrush Industry Big-Wigs who attended the show...

David Ingraham and myself. Vince "Createx" Kennedy and me.

Brooke, Dixie Art Don, Joanna.

If You Do Airbrush Art, Then This Is Your Tool

2006-03-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

Artool

The name resonates within the secret world of the airbrush artist. It represents the mastery of the-tricks-of-the-trade, where positive and negative shapes define imagery and a mask removed reveals the skill and craftsmanship that resides within.

I know, I know… a bit too dramatic. But hey, when you are talking about Artool, you are talking in the same breath about some of the world’s top professional artists. Modern-day Masters with names like, FRASER, VANDEMON, MAHAN, MATHEWSON, CACY, YOUNG, MISTRETTA, BRAET and many more! Artist’s whose ideas have come to life in the form of solvent proof templates and stencils. Looking for an oddly organic, yet perfectly cut shape? Or a direct replica of a particularly favorite skull? Artool probably has it and probably anything else you need as well.

Time for a shameless plug. Check out these new products available from Artool!

New Tribal Master Series by Steve Vandemon! Get your tribal swerve on with these 42 templates!

New Tiki Master II by Dennis Mathewson! Give your artwork a tropical twist, guaranteed to put you into the spirit of aloha!

We at Iwata Medea are proud of our longstanding relationship with Artool Products, Inc. and its owner and President, Gabe McCubbin. As Gabe continues developing and producing new and innovative products, we’ll keep on bringing them to you. Who knows? Maybe one day, your name will adorn one of these products and then you’ll take your place among the immortals!!! Or maybe you’ll just forsake fame and fortune and keep painting and producing fantastic artwork.

Artool Products, Radically Original.

The Journey of Literally Thousands of Miles

2006-02-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

Have you ever dared to think about what life would be like unencumbered and unteathered?Have you ever felt like packing up everything, selling it all and hopping into the old Winnebago and just start driving with no particular place to go and no scheduled time to arrive?
Our good friends recently did just that.

In pursuit of a life long dream artist, designer and entrepreneaur A.D. Cook and his wife Kathy (the webgeek), sold almost all of their personal belongings and hopped aboard an RV (not quite an old Winnabago) to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Armed with a small armada of computers, cell phones and their dog Dargo, A.D. and Kathy will quench their desire along the blacktop ribbon for the unseen. Along the way they'll also be tackling a special assignment; they'll witness, first-hand, the airbrush community in its entirty - the world's greatest Airbrush Tour. A.D. and Kathy will journal their adventure on their blog, AirbrushTour.com. I've recently spoke with A.D. during the initial stage of their adventure and here's what he had to say.

What motivated you and Kathy to decide to pack up, sell the house and hit the road?It's really something that we have wanted to do for a long time now. We actually considered it about ten or eleven years ago after I left Hollywood Video. There's something of a rolling stone in both of us and we wanted an opportunity to indulge that urge and see the country in an intimate way while we're still young enough to enjoy it. This is the perfect time, because technology has finally caught up with our dream. You can be anywhere now and, and for the most part, be available just as though you were home. Cell phones are local calls, and the Internet makes staying in touch completely easy now.

Beyond that, we wanted a complete paradigm shift. We'd lived in the same house, and were doing the same things for too long, and life was getting a bit too 'predictable' for us. It was time for something new - something that made us rethink everything. This lifestyle of travel and constant change does that.

What do you plan to do while traveling?

The focus of this travel project is to interview the best airbrush talent we can find, and share them and their culture through coffee table books. We're documenting our journey with our Blog: AirbrushTour . We're getting quite a following so far on our Blog, and it's a thrill to see our traffic grow almost daily. Also, I've already been invited to paint in some of the coolest studios on the west coast so far, which I plan to do as soon as my schedule allows. Beyond that, we plan to do touristy things as well. Think of the most famous tourist attractions you can, and we'll be making it a destination. We also want to stop and see largely overlooked little points of interest along the way and document each of them in our Blog. Basically, we want to immerse ourselves in our beautiful country and really get to know it like we never have before. that includes meeting exciting people and exposing ourselves to interesting experiences.

How are you going to spread the gospel of airbrushing?

AirbrushTour.com is really the ongoing tool for that. That's where we're documenting the most interesting airbrush industry art talent and personalities. We may find that we will be breaking news on the Blog about the state of the industry and the talent we meet. We will also be more actively participating in online forums on a regular basis in order to promote the viability of the airbrush in many different forms of art. When we have enough of the best content, we will be releasing it in a couple of books.

Will you visit all the 50 states, Canada and Mexico?

This is primarily a US tour. This country has a lot to offer, and there's a lot we've never seen before. There's also a ton of undiscovered talent out there, and a lot of artists we'd like to connect with here first. We're thinking it will probably take us a minimum of a couple years to just see the United States. After that, who knows? We're trying to not plan that far ahead right now. We'd like to see as much as we can before settling down again.

Where are you staying now?

Lake Elsinore, California. We found it to be a great little jumping off point because it's closely situated to many of the airbrush studios we are planning to visit while we're here in Sunny So Cal. Besides, it's breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful here... take a look:

What have you seen up to this point?

We've been to Southern Oregon, Sacramento, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Orange County, Temecula and Lake Elsinore. Along the way we visited Gabe from Artool, Craig Fraser at Air Syndicate, Dave and crew at Coast Airbrush, checked in with Ryno Templeton, and visited Noah at his new home and studio.

We haven't had a chance to visit many of the touristy destinations yet, but we plan to do that before we move on. We expect to linger in the area for a couple of months, so that should give us ample time to visit the best airbrush studios and tourist spots.

Where are you heading next?

It looks like we'll be heading back to Washington state before we leave the west coast. From there it will probably be Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and then work our way east to Florida and up the eastern coastline in whatever way makes sense at the time.

Anything you would like to mention about living in a motor home? How was the transition?

You have to think about everything differently. The first thing that jumps out is that you really have to be careful and wise with the use of your resources. Every resource must be watched and managed in order to keep you from having problems. There's not a lot of extra room, so you can't buy in bulk. With low water pressure, showers take on a whole new meaning. And electricity... in places where you don't have a good source of electricity, you must make sure you have propane, which isn't always as easy to find as you might think. Many things can run on propane besides the stovetop including the refrigerator, heater, and water heater. But if you have ample electricity, (50 amp for example) you can use it to run your refrigerator and not deplete your propane. If you're plugged into a friends house, there's not enough electricity to use the microwave. When you are living in a house, you don't really have to pay attention to things like that. You just pay your water, your electricity and your gas bill and just use whatever your budget allows. This is the biggest adjustment, but once you get used to it, it's really not a problem. Living and working in a smaller space was also a big transition for us, because we were accustomed to about 4,000 square feet of space between our home, office and studio. We had to innovate ways to shoe-horn everything we needed to work and live - all in a relatively small space. It was a challenge at first, but we've managed to do it fairly comfortably, and we're getting very accustomed to the lifestyle of full-time traveler.

We've only been on the road for about three weeks so far, but we have been able to get acclimated to this new lifestyle and we're very grateful that we can do this. I'm convinced that when our tour is complete we'll be changed individuals, full of rich life experiences and perspectives that we would have not been able to acquire any other way.

Follow A.D., Kathy and Dargo on their ultimate airbrush adventure at AirbrushTour.com

Iwata Celebrates 80 Year Anniversary

2006-01-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

Anest Iwata Corporation, Japan, manufacturers of our renown Iwata brand airbrushes celebrated their 80th Anniversary in 2005. Any company having an 80 year run is pretty remarkable during these days of dot.com busts, mergers and home based businesses. During the past 80 years, Anest-Iwata has set the standard for excellence by producing the finest quality in compressors and spray equipment worldwide. While airbrush is just a small portion of their total business, our company Iwata-Medea, Inc., has made airbrushing our core business and helped to establish Iwata as the premier brand in airbrush markets worldwide.

In celebration of their 80th Anniversary, Anest-Iwata hosted various parties and events around the world. Since they are based in Japan most of the celebrations were held in Japan, however they did bring the celebration to Italy for their overseas partners. The events in Italy were hosted by our sister company Anest-Iwata Europe based in Turin, Italy. Other invitees included members of the various branches of AI-E including AI Scandinavia, AI France, Cormack Anest Iwata (Australia), AI UK, AI Italy, ASET USA, Anest Iwata USA and us Iwata Medea, Inc.

Even though one morning was to be spent reviewing new products from Anest Iwata, business was not the entire purpose of the trip. The time was spent looking back on the history of the company, celebrating this landmark anniversary, spending time with friends old and new from around the world and sharing our Iwata stories. A chartered bus was in order as we went on various tours of the countryside in and around Alba in the Piemonte region. Piemonte is home to the famous Barbera and Barbaresco wines and we were treated with a private wine tasting at one of the premier wine cellars in the region.We also dined in various wonderful restaurants including a very memorable meal at a farm in the Italian countryside. One of my comrades from the USA, Bill Williams of ASET, found his inner soul there on that farm. After freezing outside and trying to find a door into the restaurant, he was treated to a fabulous meal and a delightful Italian kiss for dessert.

It was there in the restaurant on the farm where the league of English Speaking Nations (the ESN) was formed. However, on the bus ride back to the hotel Karl Isherwood from Australia busted out a bottle of Scotch and before long no-one could speak English very well, thus the demise of the ESN.

For me it was all about the wine and the food. Being of Italian descent myself I am particularly fond of Italian food and it made for good comparison to my mom's cooking which I gorged on while growing up in Chicago. And for some strange reason, while in Italy it seems to be really easy to consume large quantities of wine throughout the entire day and not once feel tipsy or hung-over. And of course the espresso! Who can go without the Italian espresso? Il espresso migliore!

In my mind, there is no better place to celebrate the 80th Anniversary; actually, there's no better place to celebrate any occasion than in Italy. A heartfelt thank you to Anest-Iwata President, Mr. Morimoto and Director, Mr. Tsubota for extending the invitation to attend and for picking up most of the checks. Special thanks to Marco Vicentini and his staff at AI-E, including Mr. Kato, Clara and Cecile, who were gracious hosts. Suzuki-san for the paper swan, and finally to Marco's wife, Monica who helped me to reclaim my lost luggage from Lufthansa.

SEMA spelled backwards is A MESs

2005-12-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

As many of you know the newest, hottest craze in broadcast cable television shows is Custom Automotive and Motorcycle stuff. Whether its a build-off, a pimping of a vehicle, a tricking of a truck, or just a bunch of east coast guys building bikes it has America gripped and yearning for more.

Every year during the first week of November, hundreds of thousands of people gather in sunny Las Vegas for the annual SEMA/NACE show. SEMA is the trade convention that caters to the insatiable appetite for all things vehicular. It doesn't matter whether it's motorcycles, hot-rods or monster-trucks, or any other associated products that can be attached, painted, modified or "Kustomed" chances are you'll see it at SEMA. Kustom painters and kustom kulture abound! You can see famous artists and their work in many of the booths, along with a plethora of pretty spokesmodels signing autographs and posing for cheesecake pictures.

As an aside - it's best not show all the pictures to your wife and also, have the models sign the posters to your children. I did this once with a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders calendar I had gotten at a tanning show. I had Miss May sign her picture to my son Evan. It was the only way I could get it in the house. "See honey, she signed it for EVAN!!?"

Back to SEMA it was freakin' huge. It takes up the entire LV Convention Center and the parking lots on all side. Plus most of the hotels dedicate space to in their parking lots to many of the exhibitors. For example, one of the exhibiting companies, a company that does sound systems (I think) hosted a motocross freestyle jumping competition in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Casino. It was loud and exciting and pretty kewl to see these bikes going airborne, 30 or 40 ft up.

Our sister company, Anest Iwata USA was one of the exhibitors. They had a small booth 10 x 10 which gets lost in the sea of exhibitors at this show. But even with small digs, the little booth was packed most of the time. Our parent company in Japan sponsored a Japanese artist, Shin, to come and attend the show. His presence in the booth caused quite the stir as many flocked to get an up close and personal look at his custom painting work and nude figures. A few lucky visitors even got a picture with Shin.

Later in the week, we co-hosted a hospitality suite at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with 3 other well known Kustom Kulture companies; Artool, Coast Airbrush and Airbrush Action Magazine virtual smorgasbord of who's - who in the custom painting and airbrush industry. The 1st Annual AIRBRUSH CONFIDENTIAL BASH featured a limited guest list of hand picked invitees which kept the party small and intimate yet loads of fun. Some of the people who attended were; Mike Lavallee, Craig Fraser, Steve Vandemon, Dennis Mathewson, Dean Loucks, Debra Mahan, Bob Bond, Cliff Stieglitz, David and Raina Monnig, Shin, Satoru Iwata, Kuni Tomita, Will Naemura, Robert Paschal, Gabe McCubbin, Mark Hebbeler, Dale Stitt, Tom Prewitt, Giorgio Ucellini, Giuliano Rapetti, reps from House of Kolor and the list goes on. As these pictures attest, a good time was had by all! We even introduced our soon-to-be NEW line of Iwata-Artool Kustom-Wear, t-shirts and bowling shirts. A very special shout-out to Cliff Stieglitz, Will Naemura, Gabe McCubbin and Dave Monnig for helping me to put this event together.

N ACE on the other hand is the antithesis of SEMA. It is calm, quiet, demur, sophisticated and highly technical. While it lacks the glitter and glam that is SEMA, it serves as one of the most important parts of the vehicle industry; professional paint, body work and collision repair. While I only walked this show for one day, it still makes for an interesting contrast.

The only problem with SEMA and NACE is the chaos of it all. There are over 140,000 people attend both shows during the week. Couple that with your normal Vegas weekend rompers and a only 4,000 Taxi's in Las Vegas's entire fleet and you'll have yourself quite A MESs.

Got To Get Away

2005-10-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. It's been a while since my last post as you can plainly see. I have good reason, at least in my mind, since I have been traveling much. In September I was able to attend the Airbrush Action Magazine Airbrush Getaway in Las Vegas, NV. What's a Getaway you ask? Well, two times a year Airbrush Action hosts a gathering where a series of hands-on workshops are taught by industry professionals. These workshops are on different creative disciplines where airbrush is primarily used to create artwork like; custom painting, t-shirt painting, pinstriping, commercial illustration, special effects and so forth.

For the first time, our company Iwata-Medea is an OFFICIAL SPONSOR of the Getaways. We've known the Publisher and Promoter, Cliff Stieglitz for many years now (over 20 to be exact), and we were honored to have an opportunity to participate at this level with the Getaway for years to come. Thanks CLIFF!

The classes and lectures cater to artists of all skill levels and programs are taught by the industries top-professionals. Some of the instructors at this September Getaway; Craig Fraser, Steve Vandemon, Dennis Mathewson, Deborah Mahan, Michael Cacy (scheduled but could not attend), Jon Pantaleon and Kent Lind. Special guests in attendance were Dave Monnig (Coast Airbrush), Terry Hill, Jon Kozmoski (House of Color) and Gabe McCubbin (Artool). If you are a serious airbrush user, or one who wants to be, of just a creative person these Getaways are not to be missed.

Typically, after one evening during the Getaway Cliff hosts a yearly traditional bowling match. This is a great time since it is open to all the instructors and the attendees. It's a great time to mingle and match your skills against friends and mentors. And yes, the rumor is true, I did throw 4 strikes in a row.By the way, the Getaway is much more than just airbrushing; since its' in Vegas it can be loads of fun! Plus, you may run into random celebrities - as you can see I got to hang with the original Bat Mobile.

Some New Things To Share

2005-08-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Brooke Cedros, our National Sales Manager extraordinaire, is at it again. She may be the only reader of this blog as she is harassing me about my next post. Well instead of the usual ramblings about travel, tradeshows and other mindless stuff, I've decided to post some of the hot new items now available at our company Iwata Medea.

Ok then, let me introduce the new Iwata Revolution TR (trigger-grip) airbrush. This is the new hot-rod of the line. We have two styles available the TR1 (0.3mm) and a TR2 (0.5mm). Both are side mounted gravity feed (side cup) or siphon feed (with bottles). The obvious and unique feature is the trigger assembly. The unique bottom mounted trigger is especially nice for people who prefer the feel of traditional spray gun operation. So all you custom painters and spray tanners out there will just love the trigger action! The TR series will also include the Pistol Grip Filter (F A450). Designed to fit snuggly in the palm of your hand the Pistol Grip Filter is the last line of defense for clean and dry air. Now you won't have to worry about any little spits of water getting on your work!

Also, take a look at this little gem. Its the NEW Iwata Table Top Cleaning Station (NAC 201). Now I know what you're thinking, it looks a lot like some kind of paraphernalia or maybe a miniature space craft, but trust me - its a compact and tidy little waste receptacle. It comes with a replaceable air-filter, waste container and built in airbrush holder. It will keep you work area clean and it is easy to use. Now you can clean your airbrush between colors without having to spray into a garbage can or a wad of paper towels next to your work.
At the end of the day, unscrew the lid, empty the catch-all receptacle and rinse it out!

Practical innovation and high quality, it is what you have come to expect from Iwata Medea.
Thanks for listening to my pitch and I hope you like the products.

Photoblog back in action!

2005-07-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed in my recent posts that I can once again capture photos from customer visits, shows, travel etc. I owe a big thank you to a few people here.

Remember, earlier I had lost my newly purchased camera in Italy. It was a terrible loss. Not only do I hate losing those types of things, but I lost all the pictures from the show and the trip as well. Alas, it was only a camera - but it was too new and too nice to lose. I was able to get a record of our trip by borrowing the images from our sister company in Australia. Karl Isherwood of Cormack Anest Iwata was kind enough to lone me his shots. The pictures posted from the Italy visit are actually courtesy of Karl. I owe Karl a big THANK YOU for sharing those with me.

While I was in Italy and after numerous forms and phone calls I was able to connect with my credit card bank at Visa. After a lengthy route from department to department I finally connected with the right person in the claims department. It turns out that if you lose something that was purchasesd with a Visa card and it is within 90 days from original purchase date, along with meeting other criteria Visa will reimburse you up to 500 for the purchase. Shortly after I came home from Italy I was pleasantly surprised that Visa had sent me a check for $500.00 to cover the cost of the missing camera! I was forever greatful and took great comfort in knowing that I was covered; overseas and by my credit card company.

So here's a picture of my friend who is back on the job with me.

Cyber-shot® DSC-W7 Digital CameraDSC-W7

VISA is everywhere you want to be!!!! Thanks!

Ready? Lights, Camera..... MAKE-UP!

2005-07-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Next stop, California, Orange County, Pasadena, Hollywood!! Another great thing about living in Portland is that LA is only a short 2 hour plane ride away. Although I'm a big United guy, being from Chitown and all, I've discovered that Alaska Airlines consistently has the better price and better availability when traveling on the West Coast. So I hopped on an Alaska Jet and to California I went to attend the Make Up Artists Convention.

Before we went to the convention we decided to make a few mandatory stops while in SO-CAL. First stop, Coast Airbrush! Now, for those of you who don't know or have never been to Coast Airbrush it can be best described as the Ultimate Nirvana for the airbrush enthusiast. Coast Airbrush is owned and operated by the venerable and creative marketeer Dave Monnig. Aside from the amount of products and stock inventory available to the local airbrush enthusiast they offer a unique opportunity for hangin' loose at the Coast Tiki Lounge. The Tiki Lounge is kind of a showcase for all things airbrush or airbrushed. It has the feel of a swank LA club combined with a Kustom Kulture-esque decor. A how-to video by renowned automotive artist Craig Fraser runs in the background on a TV that is inset in a killer-flamed entertainment cabinet. The walls are lined with fantastic airbrushed artwork including faux-taxidermy style marlins and sailfish painted with pimped-out styling flames. You'll notice the occasional Flying Eyeball, Skull and Iron Cross emblem emblazed on various items, and marvel at the custom chopper-style bicycles showcased on the floor. It's a modern day airbrush art museum except the couches are comfortable, the hosts are friendly and I bet, the beer is cold.

On the way out of Anaheim I always make a second mandatory stop at Hockey Giant. The Giant is the place to go for hockey equipment on the west coast. They have a good online store, but going to the actual warehouse is where it's at. I picked up some new elbow pads so I can fire a couple of cheap elbows on the ice at our copy writer and creative guy Dave Waite from Zookeeper.

I was traveling with Will so this means another MANDATORY stop in Little Japan Town (in downtown LA), to eat at our favorite restaurant. Will and I treasure our meals at this special place since often the wait can be more than an hour, and this is during lunch time! Since we are both concerned with the amount of people that may visit this place and thus spoil our ability to get in, I have decided not to name it. Instead I'll include a picture of Will with the restaurant's owner, sorry but this will have to suffice. If you happen to recognize the owner, don't spoil it by revealing his restaurant on this blog.

Last stop - Pasadena for the glitz, glamour and horror that is Make Up artistry. In professional Make Up it's more than just glamour, its stage, fashion, salon, special effects, film and television and mortuary. Make up is big business and the biggest of the big were there. The show included a small museum which featured many special effects works from past films. I was able to have chats with some of the industries top professionals, people like Brad Look, Tobi Britton, Jan Tana, Michael Benjamin and Michael Key. Also, I was able to get my sore muscles abused by Cinthia Dahl of Dahlhouse Productions - after the massage I felt like I had been in a street fight - she has hands of steel as many celebrities can attest to. Many of the countries top professional cosmetic companies were there as well like MAC Cosmetics, Jan Tana, Temptu, Graftobian and Kett Cosmetics. Also, big name make up houses lined the aisles like Naime's, Cinema Secrets and Frend's Beauty. The beauty of this show was the amount of enthusiasm for the airbrush in each of the different disciplines. The real highlight for me was seeing first hand the work that is done in this business. Ordinary people transformed into beasts, ghouls and my personal favorite the Queen of England! All this transformation without even a drop of beer? When you combine Iwata Professional Airbrushes, a quality make-up and maybe a bit of latex rubber in the hands of these professionals the possibilities are endless.

A special note for Tony Graham, Inventory Control Manager, get back to work.

Heading Into Summer

2005-06-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Well, even though we've had a very dry and mild winter here in PDX, the spring has brought a great deal of rain. Its Rose Festival here this week in Portland, which means it is automatic; expect rain. Its funny here, everybody knows when Rose Festival hits town to break out the Columbia jackets, almost as if it were controlled by some other-worldly force rather than the randomness of nature. I must admit, I've fallen prey to this belief here because amazingly enough, every year since I've been here, it rains during the same week every single time. But I've also realized, through a general study of Fractals that nature isn't necessarily random or arbitrary. So, maybe it is the City of Portland who in actuality, planned this event in syncopation to occur with the timeliness of 1 week of rain. I'm rambling here as I'm dreaming of summer, so on with the real topic.

Now the reason for my post is simple, our Sales Manager Brooke Cedros was reading this blog today and she noticed a peculiarity. She questioned that in my profile I mention "I am currently married with two children". She found the word "currently" curiously odd in its use, as if possibly the situation that I mention as "current" could possibly change and therefore a new current situation would exist. I agreed with her both yes and no. The situation could change but the situation in question most likely would not. Since it is an adequate reflection of my current state of being, I chose to use the word "current". I also stated that my use of the word "current" refers to the fact that originally I am from Chicago, and now currently reside in Portland. The argument persisted as Brooke outlined that "yes but you are currently are married with 2 children however it implies that the "current" situation may not be true tomorrow".

I digress Brooke, you are right... Before I started this blog I was not hungry, currently I am. So I will change the wording.

2005-06-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

Yours truly with a Fraser-Vandemon demo-hood.

2005-06-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

The new Italians...Vandemon, Fraser and the boss Will.

Around the world in 3 weeks.

2005-05-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

((big inhale and exhale.... wooossh)) Ok, now I'm ready to write. I've finally caught my breath and am back in snuggly ol' Portland after a 3 week whirlwind tour. When I tell people, guys like my barber, that I'm heading off on some exotic business trip the first thing they always ask, "is the business of selling airbrushes really that big?"

The query is peculiar as it suggests. Some people think that the only people using airbrushes anymore are those airbrushing Playboy models (www.playboy.com), or the guy on Motorcycle build off on shows. The reality is that Art, Hobbies, Crafts, Automotive, T-Shirts, Bakery and Beauty markets (just to name a few) all use airbrushes. AND, within each of those markets is a distinct user who may use it for a reason totally different then his counterpart in the same market. So in a sense even though it is a small niche, it is still big business. Aaron, if you are listening, the world needs airbrushes and compressors, that’s why I go.

Will Naemura (the boss) and I headed over to Europe where we hosted our first International conference with our key International distributors and with our local sister companies.

Our first stop was in the UK this would be our European hub. We had to transfer from one airport to another to catch our flight the following morning to Italy. We decided to use Ryan Air (www.ryanair.com) as our inter-Europe airline. Prices are great and the availability to cities we needed to travel to was perfect. Later in our
travels we needed to go to Gothenburg, Sweden. Ryan Air had a flight for $40 ea, round trip and return on the same day!!! That price included taxes.

The International conference took place in Genoa, Italy the Italian Riviera. More specific in the Voltri area of Genoa, last train stop in the Genoa line to the west. The meetings went well; we showed new products, discussed issues with territory, fielded a few complaints and service issues and broke bread. Also, during the week a small airbrush event was taking place put on by Airbrush Art Magazine of Italy (www.airbrush.it). Giuliano Rappetti is the publisher of the magazine and promoter of the show. He was a gracious host and his event featured a couple of American artists too, Craig Fraser (www.gotpaint.com) and Steve Vandemon (www.vandemon.com). Fraser had attended school in Italy in years past so his Italian speak was passable. Vandemon had never been to Italy before and may have starved to death if it wasn't for Fraser's ability to order for him. At the show they whipped out a kick-ass graphic scheme on some local guys Jeep Wrangler as a show demo. They both seemed to have enjoyed their stay and the Italian wine of course. Will and I enjoyed the wine too and the pizza; we ate it 3 nights straight - a personal record for us both.

During our stay in Voltri we travel by train to visit Genoa. We visited the harbor, a museum, a couple of Cathedrals, a ride up the BIGO, a medieval fortified wall and of course local resident Christopher Columbus's house. It was during one of these train rides that I noticed that my camera was gone. That hurt, you can replace the camera but not the pictures! Sadness ensued and a full day of police reports and forms for insurance followed.

After the Italy trip we traveled back to the UK so that we could fly out the next day to Gothenberg to meet with our counterparts in Sweden. When we arrived at Stansted airport we had a 1/2 day to kill. Will and I decided head up to Cambridge which was about a 30 minute ride by bus. If you have never been to Cambridge go someday. Unfortunately for us it was a Sunday and everything was closed. Too Bad. But we did get to see some of the glory and prestige that is the Cambridge University (www.cam.ac.uk) system and its various colleges, most of which whose grounds were indeed open for a public stroll. The next day we flew for our quick visit to Sweden then back to the UK for one more night before heading home. We had originally planned a jaunt to Russia at the end of the trip to meet with a customer there. But it was still cold in Moscow and at the last minute we aborted the trip citing inclimate weather.

Rest at home was brief as we had just enough time to change from trowsers to shorts and head to Hawaii. We hooked up with ARTOOL (www.artoolproducts.com) Products President Gabe McCubbin in Maui where we would be staying. We commuted to Oahu to meet with our distributor in the Automotive market ASET (www.asetusa.com). Ray Odette from ASET was assiting in putting on a jobber workshop taught by renowned airbrush artist and custom painter Dennis Mathewson. Dennis is the owner of Cosmic Airbrush (www.cosmicairbrush.com) in Honolulu and is also the developer of our new series of templates appropriately dubbed TIKI MASTERS. As Dennis also carves Tiki's it was only natural that he develop airbrush templates with a Tiki theme. Later we were able to take a break and enjoy a fine traditional Hawaiian meal prepared by Dennis and his wife Susan. We watched 1 last Maui sunset before returning home. Trust me it was beautiful, I would have taken a picture if I had a camera.

2005-05-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

For the employees, see we were really there working! Left to right: Ray Odette, Gabe McCubbin, Dennis Mathewson, ME, Will Naemura.

2005-03-21T12:16:00.001-08:00

Man vs. Beast

2005-03-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

A very tall girl...

A weekend with Arnold

2005-03-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

Part 1.

Ok, so I was invited to attend the Arnold Classic by one of our very good customers, Jan Tana. The thought of hanging out in Columbus, OH during the first week of March didn't excite me. One of the reason's I was happy to leave the midwest and move to Oregon was because of the weather. I know the winter's all too well there. But, Jan insisted I go. She wanted me to see her presentation and her team in action on the tradeshow floor. So I packed up and flew to Columbus, winter or not.

The Arnold Classic (www.arnoldclassic.com) is one of the largest sporting event / trade show/ extraveganza's in the world. Hosted by its namesake, Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger, the Classic featured everything from body building, weightlifting, to gymnasitcs, martial arts and archery. There was even a ping pong tournement and cheerleading competition! Of course they had the strongman competitions as well, where guys lift things like a giant hammer or hoist giant lead balls. A veritable who's who in health and fitness are roaming the halls people like 7-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, Gold Medalist Gymnast Paul Hamm, UFC Fighting champ Dan "the Beast" Severn and many others famous athletes. The Governor himself was spotted in and around the booths at the show (in full CIA-esque escort) while others spotted the first lady of California Maria Shriver-Schwarzenegger.

Jan's company, which bears her name, www.jantana.com is a major show sponsor. She is also responsible for tanning the body building and fitness competitors for the big body building competitions. Her crew is a formidable selection of tanning and sales guru's led by the venerable Kevin McClain. Kevvy, as Jan calls him, is energy packed and finely tuned airbrush expert. This is a man you don't want to mess with... he's a perfectionist to the "enth" degree and I am certain that nobody on the planet knows as much about the Iwata HP-BE airbrush and Power Jet compressor as he does.

While Kevvy and his tanning gods are backstage addding the finishing touch to the body building mortals, Jan's sales crews are manning her booth where they're selling airbrush systems for tanning and for temporary tattoos along with Jan's other liquid tanning products. A dazzling and dynamic set of twins manned the front lines hawking Jan's liquid beauty products while Jan's niece is buzy managing money from mission command. Flanking either side of of tanning central are a body art / temp tattoo area and a full on seated massage parlor with two hip gals, with very strong hands, worked their craft all day, every day without a break. Jan also had a logistics specialist, Rebecca, who managed everything from show logistics to driving us to the various events and gala's we would be attending. Of course everything was directed and orchestrated under the watchful eye of Ms. Tana herself. Don't be fooled by her down-home charm and her sweet demeanor, she's a wonderful strategist and a public relations and marketing dynamo. To see her in action is like watching Kasporov play chess, she does it all with a sort of tactical grace and ease.

In my mind, the only thing missing from this cavalcade of capitalism was a really tall blond girl. Well sure enough walking the show, shaking hands and posing for pictures was Alexis Skye (www.alexisskye.com) she showed up, all 6' 4" of her (7 ft with her heals on)! Standing next to her made it worth the epic trip to Columbus through the sleet and snow.

CHA Show in Hot-lanta (Atlanta)

2005-02-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

We've just returned from exhibiting at the CHA Show. The CHA Show was formally known as the HIA Show and is a giant National convention for the Art and Craft industries. Typically it travels to different cities every year and this year it took place in HOT-lanta Georgia.

The CHA Show featured companies who manufacture and sell art materials, scrapbooking supplies, decorative painting and stenciling, and general crafts. Robert Paschal from ARTtalk.com, who was one of the directors of the educational classes at the show, said that the CHA Show is the 70th largest tradeshow in the country! The show is 4 days long and you would need to walk briskly or flat out run to cover the entire show in 4 days, it is that big. Since it is trade only there aren't usually huge crowds of people.

The show took up two entire halls at the Georgia Convention Center. We were in the larger hall while the smaller hall had the new exhibitors area and the majority of scrapbooking suppliers. Unfortantely, this was the cause for what turned out to be a very slow show. You see, scrapbooking is on fire and has been for the last couple of years. It seems like everyone who attends the show is in some way affiliated with scrapbooking. When coupled with the new exhibitors in the same hall it set the stage for everyone to spend time in that area for the entire show. It was as if our hall, the bigger of the two with probably twice the number of exhibitors, didn't exist. To make matters worse the show halls were separated by a chasm of space making it a very long walk, up and down escalators, to go from one hall to the other. I later discovered a short-cut between halls, but since the areas weren't marked well it was probably hard for the buyers to make their way our way.

We still made the most of the show though. We brought one of our customer service people to the show, Joanna Chan. Since it was her first show, it was probably better that it was a little slow. This way she could learn at a smooth and more leisurely pace. We also saw a few key customers and were able to spend quality time with our sales reps. And of course we had time for our Sales Manager, Brooke Cedros, to show us some cheap bar tricks too. She's very good with using props.

2005-02-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Company Logo

Hello... is anybody listening?

2005-02-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it is happening. Something I've been wanting to do for a while now but never found time, I'm writing a blog. I have a desire to create a window to our company and our world here at Iwata-Medea, Inc. and a window into my world and thoughts specifically. Something that allows our customers and our industry a peek at what we (and I) deal with and what is happening here day to day, month to month, year to year. Even though I had intended to do this sooner, (we've been so very busy these past few years), I hadn't found the time. Although I still don't have much extra time, I've decided to carve out a small niche of minutes to make this happen.

So this is my first post on the blog. Hopefully, you'll want to return to find out where we go in our journey as a company as we strive to develop and create the finest products in the world that place no limits on the people who create.