Ever since she was a little girl, Jessica Klein knew her talents were leading her towards an artistic future. She began painting at a young age, following in her father’s and grandmother’s footsteps – both, she says, had their own artistic skills and encouraged Jessica to develop her own. When it came time to think about a career path, she enrolled at Lincoln Tech in Melrose Park, IL for Collision Repair and Refinishing Technology training, where custom airbrushing classes would help her turn her natural talent into a rewarding, exciting career doing something that she loves!
“My friends call me ‘Rosie the Riveter,’” she says, pointing to another side of her talents: working hands-on to repair and rebuild just about anything. “One day I want to own my own collision repair shop and spend as much time airbrushing cars as I can.”
When LKQ, the company that provides the paint for Lincoln Tech’s custom airbrushing classes, announced that it was holding a contest for schools throughout the Chicago area to see who could create the best custom design on a wooden bowling pin, Jessica knew she had found the perfect place to showcase her skills. But she never expected to make it all the way to the final round – and then something even more unexpected happened. She got a call letting her know her design had won first place!
“I was very surprised when I found out I won,” she says. “I’m very proud – more than 20 hours of work went into designing and painting my pin. And I’m thankful for the help and support of Mr. [James] O’Neill, my instructor.”
Jessica says she wanted to create bowling pin art that was “girly, but badass.”
A Great Test for Skills Learned in Custom Airbrushing Classes
While a bowling pin might seem like an unusual place to showcase skills built in airbrushing classes that are focused on cars, it’s actually an excellent ‘canvas’ for airbrush artists like Jessica. A pin’s shape, size, and contours make it a challenging surface to spray evenly – but at the same time, the pin’s curvature can create eye-popping perspectives when painted with the right images. Clearly, Jessica has mastered using a surface’s curves and dimensions to maximum effect!
Whether, like Jessica Klein, you’ve got innate talents for working with your hands and adding artistic flair to that work, or you simply have a fascination with cars and want to learn how to build skills for the growing field of collision repair, hands-on training will help put you on a path to a career where going to work won’t feel like “work.” Find a Collision Repair and Refinishing Technology program near you today, and start putting an artistic spin on your own professional future!
