Are you the Talk of Orlando? Pete Lopez

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ARE YOU THE

by Kris Kinville of Talkoforlando.com

ne aspect of Hip Hop culture which is seen the most, but least acknowledged is airbrushing/graffiti art. The most talented artist, in his words, to wield his “weapon of choice” is Pete Lopez of the Airbrush Factory. Raised in Brooklyn NY, he spent many of his young years trolling New York City’s subways, skillfully avoiding police, climbing on bridges and searching for blank walls he could turn into his airbrushed canvas. Now you can find him at home at the Sanford Flea World in Sanford, Row D. Orlando, if you are looking to have your visions brought to life, this is the man to make it happen…

Pete has been painting for 28yrs and his passion started with short sleeve cut off sweatshirt at the age of 17yrs, with a design of a dark horseman…”My father bought me my first airbrush and only black paint. He said he wasn’t going to purchase other colors because he didn’t know how long my interest would last.”

Little did he realize it would be for a life time. Pete made his first $1000 at the young age of 18yrs by painting hoodies for a local night club in NY. Pete has been at Sanford Flea World for 12yrs now, and I wanted to know how did he decide to do his passion full time? I knew he had been working in the custom jewelry business for several years, when he relocated from Brooklyn to Orlando. So I asked, “How did you wind up here?” He said, “I got tired of bouncing around the jewelry business, from company to company every 4-5 years. Creating custom work for music artists such as Full Force & high end clientele was great but I just didn’t feel “at home” in the industry. When I got my severance package from Service Merchandise, I decided it was time to work for myself doing something I love, rather than work for others.”

I went on to ask, “Why Flea World as a location? What has been the most rewarding

being here?” “Insurance breaks! It’s nice to be able to run my own business without all the liability.

(Laughing) Seriously, it’s like a big family here and I like being so accessible to the community without all the overhead & stress having your own facility causes. Because I’m so accessible, I enjoy opportunities for more community involvement because of my location also.”

One example of Pete’s involvement is the Car & Bike show I attended on March 3rd at Flea World. There were many different charities & groups there such as Ribbon Riders which is a bike club that raises money for breast cancer research/treatment. Also included were local car clubs such as Phat Rides & 2Much4U. Not only were the cars/ bikes entered in the competition amazing but the turn out also. The atmosphere was charged with energy and laughter the whole day, with a true community feel.

When asked about being a “pillar of the community” Pete had only to say “I love seeing my art everywhere! (Laughing) No seriously, I try to be fair with my pricing and I enjoy doing different types of events like the car show, but if I’m going “do it for the community” that is exactly what it is.

My shop is closed for business, and it’s all about that charity/event.”

You could tell the local baseball/little league season had started, during my visit.

While I was there, 6 baseball helmets came in to be painted with names, team mascots, and exciting images like lightening. Pete cranked out those helmets, 5 t-shirts and a model car cover, just while I was there.

are vain. They love themselves and what represents them. They love to promote/wear their passions.

People love to self-promote!”

I asked “What portrait experience is you’re most treasured?” He answered, “Not someone famous by far. I had a tiny 80yr old woman, who could barely see over my store counter, strain to stand on her very tip toes to lean over to give me a kiss & a hug with tears in her eyes, all because I was able to paint a portrait of her husband, as she saw him. As she remembered his love. That is my favorite. Not all the flashy ones. I like making people feel good with my art.”

In his long career Pete has painted on many different surfaces from clothes, helmets & hats, beautiful bodies, car/bikes, business signs, building murals, nursery walls, and even Mack trucks, such as Orange County’s University High School Cougar logo and name on the 18-wheeler the school owns.

I asked him what is your favorite “canvas” to paint? “The beautiful women you would think would be my immediate answer, (laughing) but actually a plain white t-shirt is my favorite. It has nothing to say, no input as to how my art should look or feel. It just says “paint me” and I have an open avenue to create anything without complaints or restrictions.”

Orlando, if you need a unique and quality way to advertise your passions/business, come see Pete at Flea World Row D or contact @ www.AirbrushFactory.com /look him up on facebook @ “Airbrushfactory Pete Ray”. Be sure to tell him “Kris” sent you!

I notice during the visit that several people would stop and watch. I asked, “Can I answer any questions? Help?” and majority of the time people would answer “just watching”. I have to admit I’ve spent many hours visiting Pete & “helping”, all in exchange for the privilege to watch a person’s vision come to life before his fingertips within minutes.

And I do mean come to life. His portraits are one of the main reasons I can’t call his work anything but Art. Pete has created, meet and presented many famous people with portrait t-shirts. From Kanye West, Most Def, 50 Cents, Daddy Yankee to even our own President, Mr. Obama over the years.

Pete was creating a portrait shirt close to the end of my visit and I asked Why Portraits?

He stated, “Vanity is a salesman’s dream! People

www.flyerpromonow.com

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Wildside Reloaded

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