55. Kyle Pihlaja -Pristine AirBrush - NBA Hardwood - Somero Enterprises

Kyle Pihlaja with Pristine Airbrush joins the Trevor Buck Podcast.

An artist out of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Kevin has taken his craft to a global level—traveling around the world painting courts for the NBA and earning certification from Bauer Hockey to paint goalie masks.

From detailed airbrush work to large-scale projects, this conversation dives into what it takes to turn skill into a career 

Sponsored by TB9 Snipers 

https://www.instagram.com/pristineairbrush/

https://www.somero.com/ 

https://www.trevorbuckco.com/product-page/tb9-snipers-built-for-the-elements-styled-for-anywhere 

Edited & Produced by Daisie Media 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to the Trevor Buck Podcast, episode 55. And I've got Kyle with Pristine Airbrush with me today from the UP. Welcome. How are you doing?

unknown 0:23

Good, good.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Thanks for having me. Okay, and I I don't dare pronounce your last name. It looks like it's a finished last name. And people that have listened to this pod know that I'm not very good with pronunciation. So how how do you say your last name?

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Yeah, well, that's the only finished thing about me is my last name. And it's uh it's spelled Pelia, or it's pronounced Pelia, like you're peeling something. Okay. Pelia.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Pelia, okay. So are are you a sauna guy?

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Okay. Okay, and is that a ritual? If you're from the UP and you have a finished last name, you have to take saunas.

SPEAKER_04 1:01

Yeah, pretty much. You know, I do that a lot. You know, it's a Saturday night kind of tradition deal. And uh, I got I got multiple resources where I can sauna, so it's nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

That's awesome. And uh I was talking to another youper this morning. He was uh he was whining and complaining that there's still snow on the ground.

SPEAKER_04 1:21

Yeah, actually, um it'd be my wife's grandma. She's down in Ann Arbor right now, visiting her daughter. And she sent a picture of uh grandpa there outside on the deck, suntanning, and I said, I forgot what grass looks like. That's nice, nice and green and everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

And it's green here. I'm out in Washington State. But but but does that start bothering you, how much snow you get?

SPEAKER_04 1:43

It gets old. Yeah. Actually, this time of year, this time of year, it's like it could be done now and not a month later.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Sure, sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:50

You take it with what it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Okay. And were you uh born and raised in the UP?

SPEAKER_04 1:55

Yeah, actually born in Hancock.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Okay. Born in Hancock, raised here, and then um I well, I went to paint school in Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Okay.

unknown 2:03

Went out there for a while. I mean, I worked in North Dakota.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

Uh I lived in Milwaukee for a while, so I uh I did some traveling.

unknown 2:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 2:10

And then um job, job and job, I kinda instead of applying, I started getting recruited for jobs with painting and stuff. So I just kind of migrated back here, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Okay, so you're uh so you're a well-known uh painter, you might say.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Yeah, I uh I kind of well because that's I've been doing it for 21 years right now. And it's kind of what's been happening lately is yeah, you get recruited for a job and then one goes from another, and I get phone calls and offers, and it's that kind of like that's what brought me back up to the UP.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

That's amazing. And and I want to talk about this because you've shared that you've traveled all over the world painting, would you say hardwood floors?

SPEAKER_04 2:54

Yeah, so I guess we could rewind a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Rewind, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Yeah, so paint school, that was around 2010. Okay. I went to Pittsburgh, and then um, I was already airbrushing. I picked up the airbrush when I was 15. That's kind of how it started.

unknown 3:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:10

I loved how it looked. I love um, you know, just doing it. You watch literally watch the artwork come to life as you're painting, which is like the coolest thing. So I was addicted and hooked to it right away. And then um, so I was already loving the work, and then I was a weekend decision. My old man was like, hey, you should uh go to school for this, learn how to clear coat and do that start to finish. And then um I'm just throwing my age out there. YouTube wasn't invented yet. So I was self-taught. And then figured out what worked and what didn't. Um and then uh went from there. So it yeah, kind of like, okay, pack my bags, go to Pittsburgh, learn the correct way to paint and all that stuff, so that was nice, and then I'll learn a lot of it I applied to my airbrushing, which was cool.

unknown 3:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

And then um so I kinda took off. And I was about ten, ten years in, eleven years in. The reputation started spreading, you know, like all the paints and stuff, helmets, whatever I can get my hands on, tailgate. And um, so I just started doing that, word of mouth, kind of deal. And then um I kind of I rebranded the pristine airbrush in 2014, and that was kind of the turning point where the quality artwork was better. Um, I knew how to like yeah, wet sand and buff the clear coat, so it's like a showroom shine. And then uh I got certified as a mask artist from Bauer, um, so that was pretty cool. And then um CCM in Warwick followed, so it's like okay, I'm a certified mask artist, which that means that when I paint something, it mat it uh matches the factory finish to what they would produce at the factory. So um I'm right up there with like an NHL protection style helmet and all that stuff. And so after the certification, that kind of opened up the resume a little bit more. Um and then I was living back here, and then I moved to Milwaukee in 20, I think it was 2013. No, it was 2014. I was at Pristine Airbrush, moved to Milwaukee. I was powder coating down there in industrial, and then um, same thing. It's I had um 130 hours of airbrush work on my truck. I did a big prohibition theme all the way around the bottom of the truck. I had Al Capone and the portrait on the front bumper, had some gangster stuff on the tailgate. Like people just loved it. And then um, so that kind of it was actually kind of funny. So I was rocking the truck out in Milwaukee. I came up on the weekend, I had to get some drywall from uh the local lumber yard, and this guy was behind me and he said, You do all this work? And I said, Yeah, I did this myself, and he's like, I I need to talk to you. I was like, Okay. Well, he was uh a flooring manufacturer for the MBA and NCAA, and he was like, give me his card, and he's like, come talk to me sometimes. Okay, so talk to him. He liked like the work and all that, and um then went back down to Milwaukee doing my day job, and then he called around January, it'd be uh 2015, and he goes, I I got the NBA All-Star floor, I need you to airbrush the lanes because they're like a faded geometric pattern, and it was held in Toronto that year. And I was like, Okay, so I told my foreman, I said, I don't know how to tell you this, but I got a big paint job opportunity, and um, I need like two days off. And I said, I'll take it unpaid and all that, and being completely honest with him.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 6:47

And he he was like, What's it for? I said, uh, the NBA All-Star floor. He was like, seriously? I said, Yeah. I showed him the print and he's like, I'll cover for you. What do you need? And I said, Wednesday, Thursday, I'll be back Friday, you know, Friday morning to work. I'll cover for you. That's awesome. I was like, thanks. So I came back, it was uh in Dollar Bay, Michigan here, and um airbrushed the all-star floor to the lanes and everything, and that floor went to the to Toronto for the NBA event in February. I went back to Milwaukee, you know, doing my thing. The NBA loved it. And they were like, Wow, we could throw anything at you, and you know you can paint it. That's awesome. I think it was the next day he gave me a call. He goes, You want a full-time job? I was like, Okay. And he's like, Yeah, I moved back up to to Hancock, you know, you can work for me full-time. I said, Fine, okay. So that was 2016. I moved back to the area, yeah, worked with the MBA and the colleges. Um, yeah, we did a floor in um India. I had to fly there and do some updates on it. It was about an eight-day project, so that was pretty cool to go across the world. And then um there was another one uh actually probably six years ago, I think it was, the Abu Dhabi Games. Uh they called the NBA Global Games. They needed some updates done. So me and another guy, we went and flew over there, another it was an 8D project. And um, yeah, updated all the graphics for the the court, and then um the NBA had a five-year contract with them. So we kind of like got the graphics ready and then they were ready for the year, and then so on. And um, yeah, and then I think another one I did worldwide was uh Sweden. There was actually a lady, she came, she visited the copper country, which was cool, and then she's found that you know I'm the artist locally from here, and she said, I want a UP painted on a maple wood, and then can you ship it to me? And I'm like, Yeah, I could do that, no big deal. So I airbrushed the Sweden flag waving inside the shape of the UP, and I shipped it to her, so it's like, yeah, I got some stuff all over the world.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

You know what that is so amazing that you share that because I've had a fella on from uh India, Nittin. Okay, and I've got a friend uh TM in Sweden. So people are gonna love hearing about this. This is amazing. So, so growing up, would you say, as a as a child or a youth or a teenager, were you an artist?

SPEAKER_04 9:25

Yeah, I love drawing. Okay. Um, drawing on everything, and then painting was always cool. But then um Mike Lovale, who was the number one like airbrush guy, he was on the hot rod shows you see on TV and stuff, and he did this thing called True Fire, and it was like realistic flames, and it's all airbrush. And I uh that blew me away. It was like, I want to do this. This is neat. So that kind of helped trigger like the avenue of let's go take the drawing and go into the airbrush avenue.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Okay, so when when you're doing some of these projects, are the graphics supplied for you, or are you creating the graphics yourself?

SPEAKER_04 10:03

Um, well, it yeah, it depends. Like a good example, like MBA, they got graphic designers, so you just have to recreate what they do, which is actually sometimes was really challenging because they had their graphics are on the computer.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 10:18

They got I think um that one All-Star floor, trying to think which year that was. I think it was 2017. They had 38 layers of transparency shapes and shading and stuff. Wow, wow, wow. Yeah, I had to take all those transfer the transparencies and paint that to make it look like the exact layers and the fading and the silhouettes and watermarks that they did. So that was extremely challenging. So you do you know what you can, different techniques I've learned through the years um to get that end result, and then that's like one end of the spectrum, and then another would be uh the goalie helmets for northern Michigan. The guys come up with an idea. Hey, I want the wildcat here, I want this background, and then I do a digital rendering on the iPad, draw it up digitally, and then I'll send them a picture. Is this exactly what you want? And that's when we'll change something, like, okay, I want to tweak it a little bit, or no, I like that, and then the paint will start. So I've done both.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Okay, so what uh on the iPad, what program are you using to uh create these uh digital images?

SPEAKER_04 11:28

I use um, I think it's a Procreate on iPad Pro. Yeah, and it's that's pretty popular with artists because it's all free-hand drawing, and then there's different um different tools, like you got pens, you got pencils, airbrush.

unknown 11:41

Okay, so you can yeah, you can get a real detailed image.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

Because what I like to do is get because I I know everybody's not artistic, so I'm gonna get you an exact picture of what I want to paint, just so you can see, okay, that's exactly what I want, or I thought that's what I wanted, but no, let's change something up on it so it's easier to do.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Okay, and and I want to share this because I I've watched a few of these videos, but for some of some of our listeners out there listening, when it comes to airbrushing, uh, even something as a hockey element, it might seem like a small object, but how many layers and detail and passes with your your airbrush you're doing? I mean, it is the the amount of time involved in the detail to get the finished result. I don't think most people realize that.

SPEAKER_04 12:31

Yeah, it's um it's gonna be twofold basically, because if you do um like a portrait, it's all freehand. All you're doing is shading, shapes, um, pretty much just doing your fine line work, and that's all they call it freehand. No stencils involved, no hard lines, it's just making that portrait come to life.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

A lot of layers, a lot of time, but you're not remasking. Then you got like a goalie helmet where yeah, you got a background like tree lime, then you have like the northern wildcat, three different colors. Yeah, you're talking remask, you gotta cut out your fine line so you don't have any bleated edges is what you call them. Um so you make sure that the logo's crisp, um, you have all your layers, you don't have the overspray, so so it's kind of bit of both.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

That that is awesome. And I want to ask you this this uh this truck that uh the the guy with the flooring uh outfit seen, can you send me a picture of it? Yeah, okay, send me a picture because I would love to share some of this work, because this is super, super fascinating.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

Yeah, yeah, that kind of that's it was kind of funny because it's like I just love to paint, and I didn't have anything to paint on, so I'm like, well, here's my own truck. Oh and I like that prohibition gangster theme, so I was like, okay. And then 130 hours later, you're like thinking that's ridiculous. Like, who would want to paint that on their own vehicle? And then um, yeah, but it led it led to the NBA gig, and it's like, oh, that was absolutely worth it.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

So what what is your full-time uh employment now? What are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 14:07

Well, yeah, so after yeah, I was 10 years, 10 years with the NBA working with them, and then um two years ago, I of course I get another call, and um it's an industrial outfit up here, they're called Samino Enterprises. They make concrete laser screeds.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Oh yeah, oh yeah, this is this is amazing. I love it. I love it. This is great. This loops us all into a big circle. Tell me more.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

Yeah, so yeah, so it's a big global company, and um, I was actually I was working on the Denver Nuggets court, and I get a call, and it's um, hey, you know, Carl, this is um Alyssa from Samurai. And I'm like, Somero? And she's like, we're looking for a painter. And right away, my first thought was I didn't apply there. So I told her, I was like, I didn't I didn't send an application in. And she started laughing, and she's like, No, no, no, we're reaching out to you. Do you want to paint for us? We're looking for a painter. I was like, Oh, okay. She's like, take a tour, see what we're all about, benefits and all that stuff. And I was like, Okay. So I did that, and I liked what I saw. The schedule met uh was a better fit for you know me and my family hanging out with my kids and stuff. So I was like, okay, let's uh now we're gonna samer all industrial painting full time, which I love to paint, so sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Okay, so what what are you painting full time for somorrow?

SPEAKER_04 15:28

Yeah, so that's um industrial paint, which is completely different. All it is is colors. I mean, you're painting um all the parts to build the machines, okay, and uh frames that pretty much the frame is the size like of a truck. Yeah. So it's like you can wheel it in a booth, racks that are all the parts are lined up, and then yeah, you go through and you prime everything like a regular primer, and then you grab a gun and you hit a collar. It's um the gray is like a number two, and then the white is number one, and that's all you have is white and gray. And you go along and you just paint all the parts, and then they dry in the oven, and then they have different people that put everything together.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

That is awesome. And um and I want to ask you about this. What what do you do for uh I guess in my industry we call it PPE? But I I know there's some uh toxins or fumes or like I I I worry about you painting with these chemicals. What are you doing for uh protection to make sure that you're staying healthy?

SPEAKER_04 16:25

Yeah, that started actually when I was 15, my dad was like, um, because he had guys that were in body shops and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

And he was like, um, paint is cumulative, it builds up in your system over time. And so early on it was like, yeah, you can airbrush, maybe not smell it, but it, you know, you're getting the fumes in your system without a respirator. So I was always like, I love what I do. I don't want to get sick or get, you know, um to a point where I can't do what I love to do. So no matter what kind of paint job it was, I threw on my respirator first. And then I'd airbrush clear, whatever you gotta do. And um, because there's this thing, it's uh uh disease that's called painter's pneumonia.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 17:09

And if you crack a paint can and you smell those fumes, you throw up instantly.

unknown 17:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

And you you can't you can't even be around paint fumes.

unknown 17:18

And that kind of scared me. I'm like, I never want to do that.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

Like, do it.

unknown 17:22

Yeah, and do what I love to do, so take the proper precaution.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

And yeah, so it was always a respirator, airbrushing, even though it's small volume. I always did that. I got to Samurai, and they're like, yeah, it's supplied air, it's a full um Sada hood, full paint suit.

unknown 17:38

Um, you even tape, you wear gloves, tape your wrists up. I'm like, this is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

You're so safety conscientious.

unknown 17:44

I was like, this is the place to be.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah. That is really awesome to hear. So are you currently still at Samoro?

unknown 17:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Oh, that's my day job. That is so amazing. I can't wait to share that with uh some of our fellows on here, because this is great. This is a really the circle of friends that we've created with this podcast is absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_04 18:06

Yeah, and it's I had to laugh because people like daily, they're like, you you paint white and gray. How boring is that? I'm like, I'm painting, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Right.

SPEAKER_04 18:14

Leave me alone.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

So so do you still get the the call-ups for the the basketball courts?

SPEAKER_04 18:20

Not so much anymore. I kind of walked away from that about actually January.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

January was my last uh few floors, right before the all-star floor. You just said done with this?

SPEAKER_04 18:32

Yeah, and then um, yeah, then it's goalie helmets are still happening.

unknown 18:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 18:36

And um, I still did a lot of those. And then um motorcycles. Um, yeah, I've done a lot of motorcycles actually recently. And then uh so it's kind of like the avenues kind of switch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Kate, when you say motorcycles, are you doing the the the motorcycle helmets or the the actual uh the fairings on the on the motorcycles themselves?

SPEAKER_04 18:55

Yeah, yeah, all the parts fairing, gas tank, fenders, saddlebags, um, all that stuff. A lot of guys they they break down the parts, they'll ship them to me, and then I'll paint them, start to finish, and then ship them back. So it's again, anybody nationwide or worldwide, it's like let's paint your stuff.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Okay. And if somebody out there is listening, because I know they're out there, goalies, so they have a I know a few fellows that have plain white goalie helmets. How do you estimate, or like if they come up with a concept and you say, okay, this idea is gonna take me 10 hours, 20 hours? How how does how do you come up with a value and say, hey, this is gonna cost you X amount?

SPEAKER_04 19:37

Um, yeah, I've been doing for so long.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

Actually, it's kind of funny. My son was like, How many helmets have you done? Yeah. I was like, uh, I think it was like over 40 at this point. I was like, quite a bit. So um, I pretty much have an idea, like basic helmet, if you want um like a high school league, simple logos, a couple colors, you're talking like 500 bucks.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

And then up um college level, I mean, still you could still do a lot of college helmets for 500 to 600 somewhere in there.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 20:08

And then if you want like portrait work, which is you know extreme detail stuff, you could get closer to 900. So it's it there's a lot of variance. And then I tell people too, it's above budget. I mean, if you say, hey, I got 400 bucks, okay. Well, you still can do something, it's not gonna be detailed, but it's doable.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Okay, this is awesome. So I'm gonna shout out. I'm gonna call him T U. And uh he is uh a relative of mine, he's got a white goalie mask, and uh his wife is actually my niece, and we're gonna um we're gonna try to put you two in touch because this this would be amazing. That would be super amazing. So, but I want to ask you this. Sometimes these goalie masks have special uh stories or meanings. Yeah. There was one that you shared that was I mean, very, very people get pretty personal on these things.

SPEAKER_04 21:01

Yeah. Yeah, I would say the the best one that kind of like brought me like grounded close to home was um the Kyumet Copper Kings.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 21:11

Um yeah, their goalie, his dad passed away.

SPEAKER_03 21:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 21:14

And um the team, literally, this uh the team came to came to me and were like, we want this helmet done. We fundraised for the budget. And um I was like, wow, first of all, like I'm honored to do this. This is insane.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 21:28

And they're like, yeah, this is uh the ideas. And um they gave me the same thing. They gave me the story, what kind of elements they wanted on there. And uh for me, it's like anytime it's a memorial, I'm always thinking like portrait, gotta put the guy's portrait on there. And so I was like, portrait on the side, and then all of them are like, nope, nope, this this guy's not a portrait kind of person. I'm like, okay, hey, that's fine. What do you want? And they're like, Yeah, we want like um, he loved the golf, so he was like, Let's put some golfing, him golfing like silhouette and stuff. I said, Okay. And um Hats off to the team. They went around. They got me a bunch of reference pictures of um maybe we want him sitting on a bench with his son. We want him doing this. We want this sign uh going up to like five-mile point up in um uh QA there. And I was like, okay, like they they got they did all the legwork, so all I had to do was put the design together, made sure that they all were happy with it, and signed off on it, and then yeah, and then we painted it up and they did a cool presentation in the locker room. They gave it to the goalie, and I was honored to be there, and just uh I think his mom and his grandparents were there too, and it was it was just really cool.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Okay, so so right now I think there's a couple of uh what are the two popular uh mask uh models or brands? There's a couple of two solid ones.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Yeah, Bauer, Bauer 960. That's always that's like college. College likes the Bauer. Okay, and then um CCM. CCM's another one.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Okay. And you said you were certified for both of those that they approve of your work that makes it equal to what they would produce.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

Yeah. Yeah, that was the biggest thing was match, match factory finish. Like I went I work with Bummer first.

SPEAKER_03 23:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

And they're like, yeah, we just gotta make sure that like you're not painting on our stuff, and then you get like chipped, you know, like half the have to mask chips off or something.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

And you probably have uh protocols that you have to make sure that their logo stays prominent or this and that.

SPEAKER_04 23:28

Oh, there's yeah, there's um kind of guidelines, I should say.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Guidelines of what they what they want me to do.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

And um logo-wise, they're you're like, no, I mean, if the guy doesn't want a logo on there, he has to put it on there.

unknown 23:42

So that was kind of kind of cool to know.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Because I I thought, like you're saying, I thought for sure, hey, Bauer's gotta be Bowers. Right, right, right. So is is there anybody in the NHL wearing one of your masks?

SPEAKER_04 23:54

No, I had a few um goalies for Michigan Tech.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:58

And then um we worked together at Michigan Tech.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 24:01

And then um the one goalie he went off to Iowa Wild, and he did a tryout at the end for the end of the season, and I'm like, oh, this is cool.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

Right.

SPEAKER_04 24:09

And um, so I was like, you know, you want to work together? He goes, Yeah, next year it'd be great. I was like, okay, sweet. So kind of got my foot in the door with the AHL and Iowa Wild, and then um we got in touch, I think it was um that summer, and he's like, uh, hockey's not my thing anymore. I'm I'm gonna transfer over to something else. And I was like, okay, so that's it.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

Okay, well, well, let's let let's keep working on this. Let's get you into uh the NHL. You know, you you know, there was one particular mask I remembered, and and you might have seen this because I I watched these YouTube videos, but I think it was a goalie from Nashville, but I think uh somebody had airbrushed like Johnny Cash on the on the helmet. Oh, yeah. That was the amount of detail and work involved in these masks is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_04 24:57

Yeah, that um Jordan Bordeaux, he's uh one in Canada. He does phenomenal work. He's been up and coming, like um over a million views on like Instagram and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 25:08

And he that probably was the Johnny um Cash mask was probably his. He was one of them that was phenomenal. And then um Dave Freed, he's another one in Canada that I love his his style. I love his um bull logos, like his work is amazing. So it's uh there's a lot of artists out there, you know, you look up to like, hey man, I love your style.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

I like the way you do things, like it's awesome. You just kind of feed off each other. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Kate, uh, is your is pristine airbrush on on Instagram?

SPEAKER_04 25:37

Yeah, Instagram and Facebook.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Okay, give us give us the the handles where people can find you.

SPEAKER_04 25:44

Yeah, it's just um pristine Airbrush is uh Instagram there, and then Facebook it's its own title, pristine Airbrush on Facebook there.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

That's great. Okay, no, I have to ask you this because I'm kind of an idiot, but have you ever done any uh street artist work? You know, like go paint the the bridge on the across the what do you what do you call it, the canal there? Do you do any uh graffiti stuff? Uh no, I'm like, like Banksy.

SPEAKER_04 26:13

Yeah, yeah, I can, but I haven't actually done it. Yeah, funny story. I actually I did have a graffiti piece I did one time. It was after 9-11 of all things. And I it was like a like government graffiti piece, and uh my old man loved it, and um he brought it to the police station, and then uh he got copies made. And I was like, what are you doing? And he's like, Oh, I thought that was neat. I wanted to share it. I'm like, I was supposed to be tagged on something, but never mind.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

That's awesome. So uh you have a you you have a family? Yeah, wife and two kids. Okay, and how old are your kids?

SPEAKER_04 26:53

Uh five and seven.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Okay, and what are they into?

SPEAKER_04 26:57

Actually, uh my son's in uh he's into goalies and artwork and all that stuff, so it's kinda neat. Every time I get a I bring a helmet home, he wants to try it on, and then he wants to try it on after it's painted.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

That is super cool. So so he's into goalies.

SPEAKER_04 27:12

Yeah, yeah, he's huge. I'm like, you want to be a player, it's cheaper.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

You know, you know, I just did a podcast with a fellow from uh Canada with Swift Hockey, and I didn't I did not realize that goalie sticks were so expensive.

SPEAKER_04 27:30

Oh yeah. Everything's gotten uh pricey from when I used to play.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

It's unreal. And especially goalie stuff. So goalie equipment is like, yeah, so you gotta encourage your uh your your boy to play forward. Yeah, it's like anything else. Right. Okay, well, hey, I really, really appreciate you uh doing this, and I'm going to uh wrap this up. Don't hang up, I'll talk to you offline. Yeah, it sounds good. You can find this podcast on Apple and Spotify. Give this a five-star review, and make sure you follow Pristine Airbrush on Instagram and Facebook, and I'm gonna try to get some goalie mask sent your way. And this is great. There you go. Okay, and this little episode was edited and produced by Daisy Media. Thank you. Good night.