RiverScene Magazine | World Custom Painting Artists Come Together In Lake Havasu

By Becky Maxedon

A gathering of some unique artists happened in Lake Havasu City over the past several days.

Brushmasters Getaway – Painting in Paradise brought together those who specialize primarily in automotive, motorcycle and marine custom painting from throughout the country and the world to Havasu to teach others their techniques and skills.

The event at the London Bridge Resort Convention Center was organized by local artist Cory Morz.

Morz has headquartered his business – Mr. Oz Designs – in Lake Havasu City for the past 11 years off and on and solidly for the past five years.

“We have a bunch of those considered to be masters of the craft – mostly automotive-based but also motorcycle and marine-based artists from Indonesia, Australia, Canada and the United States,” Morz said.

The primary draw for those wanting to learn or improve their custom painting skills was Gene Winfield.

Winfield, often described as “The King of Kustoms,” is renowned for his work on many film and television projects.

Winfield designed the Catwoman mobile for the television series. In his film and television repertoire are six bubbletop cars for “Sleeper”, 25 vehicles for “Blade Runner”, the starcar in “The Last Starfighter,” the shuttlecraft in “Star Trek,” and many others.

Winfield said his favorite project was his work on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 engine, plastic body “Piranha.”

“I designed it in my head first, and then did a couple of sketches and then I had an artist draw it for me and then I built it. It was all good,” Winfield said.

“They wanted 54 cars for ‘Blade Runner.’ I couldn’t do that, so I built 25 of them,” he said.

Winfield honed his craft from an early age.

“When I was quite young, I was playing around painting things just for fun and I came up with the idea of fading the paint and gradually blending it gradually from zero into the color. They called it the ‘Winfield Fade’.

“I see a lot of artists here and see what they’re doing. I’m happy to be here with all these artists,” he said.

Winfield is no stranger to Lake Havasu City.

“I started coming here when I was 15 or 16 to water ski. I did all kinds of skiing – ski jumping – skiing backward. They always had some flat, slick water here. I’d interrupt that slick water,” he said.

He said he’s been back several times over the years.

Winfield also signed autographs for fans at The Q Thursday evening.

Among the artists participating in Brushmasters Getaway was Fahmi FreeFlow, considered one of Indonesia’s best pinstripers.

“I was invited to teach and learn and participate. I just share my skill to everybody here,” he said.

FreeFlow has been pinstriping with custom painting for 21 years.

“For now, it’s not only automotive, but now I’m very into fashion – boots, leather jackets. I’m still trying to build the custom culture,” he said.

Not only is this his first trip to Lake Havasu City, but his first time in the United States.

“It’s beautiful here. Warm, the water, I love it,” he said.

Havasu local Lindsay Hoffman said she has always been an artist.

“I saw this advertised on Instagram about two months ago and I said this is my hometown. I’ve got to do this,” she said.

“I’m learning pinstriping, air brushing, how to use the right material, the right brush type and how to apply it properly. I want to do boats, so we’ll see where that goes,” she said.

Organizer Morz said, “This year has been a good response, but it is the smallest one we’ve had, but it’s been good. A lot of the people love it here. I’ve heard a lot of people looking for real estate, going out at night. I feel like everyone has rented a side by side or personal watercraft or something.

“We wanted not only to get the artists and trades to smaller communities we also wanted it to be where people had enough time to get out and enjoy these places,” he said.

Brushmasters Getaway was a private event, limited to those who purchased tickets to attend workshops to learn techniques and methodology from some of the best in the business.

Other guest artists included Lil’Dame, Monique Richter, and Mr. Oz Designs.

For more information, visit www.brushmastersgetaway.com.