The finished piece of art can be whimsical, eye-catching, relaxing, or a combination of all three. One thing’s for sure – you’re guaranteed it will be unique.
That’s the promise of six-year Innisfil resident artist Sara West whose business, Air Art, has been pleasing clients across central Ontario for more than 15 years.
“My mom’s an artist, she does acrylic and watercolours,” West explains. “I’ve been drawing since I was little, mom inspired me.”
After growing up in Newmarket, and stints as both a cake decorator and dog walker, West took a night course in Toronto on how to use an airbrush.
“For the first five years, it was part-time,” she says. “I started at the 400 Market.”
As her repertoire grew, word-of-mouth led to more and more commissions.
“I went full-time into murals about 11 years ago.”
West’s works can be seen in a wide spectrum of locations, including homes – bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms, recreation rooms, restaurants, nursing homes, sports bars, churches, schools, day care centres, banquet halls, animal clinics, cottages, cars, trucks, motorcycles and even outdoors. West uses water-based, non-toxic paint, an airbrush and a compressor.
“It’s hard to estimate how many I’ve done over the years,” West says. “It must be in the thousands.”
Her most unusual job?
“Painting naked angels on a Harley-Davidson. Everything is freehand. I occasionally use a projector for car work. I also do pet and people portraits. I do helmets, too.
“My favourite thing to paint is animals, then fairy-type, little girl type of murals.”
For work, West has travelled as far afield as Huntsville and Burlington.
“Think I may be going to Ottawa soon,” she adds.
Her minimum price is $250 and goes up according to size of the room, amount of detail and complexity, and how far West travels to a job.
There’s no ‘typical week,’ for West.
“Sometimes, it’s slow – it can range from working one day a week to up to six or seven days a week. Some weeks, I can be out until 11 p.m. every night.”
And how long will she keep it up?
“As long as my body holds out,” she laughs.
For more information, West can be reached at 431-0431 or sara@airart.ca.
Samples of her art can be viewed at www.airart.ca
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