Bikes, Babes & Brushes
Photo by Shannon Zabele
Cruz's art on wheels ranges from
natural themes to fun-loving
cartoons.
The warehouse-sized building, located behind a row of offices on Old Daytona Road in DeLand, is easily missed if you aren’t looking for the 3-by-6 foot “Chris Cruz Artistry” sign on the upper right side of the building. While the warehouse is spacious, its quaint location doesn’t seem to flatter the artist who occupies its space.
Cruz designs “rideable” motorcycle art, which is in high demand around the world. Each custom-designed, hand-painted motorcycle is brought to life from his client's own ideas and then sketched and completed at Cruz’s shop. Cruz, who is the son of a motorcycle dealer, has been an artist since he began composing colors in third grade.
Client requests range from the most unique “graffiti” bike—which required Cruz to pick up the style of a real-life graffiti artist and make the artwork look as if it came from spray-paint cans —to the always-popular flames and eagles. Cruz says his favorite themes are those that involve anything that is photo realistic.
“I enjoy doing things that are natural: photo scenes, landscapes, pin-up girls,” Cruz says.
Under the influence of his high school art teacher, Cruz’s art developed in the form of oils on canvas. It was because of his teacher that he became interested in commercial art and was inspired to paint portraits.
I continued to work with my art teacher after high school. He got me jobs painting oils on canvas,” Cruz says. “I stayed in art classes in community college and continued refining my skills in portrait painting.”
That same teacher also suggested that Cruz try airbrushing, a skill that would prove invaluable to his future line of work.
A Virginia native, Cruz was inspired to apply his artistic talents to motorcycles more than 25 years ago on one of his regular trips to Florida with his father. Visits to Daytona Beach’s Bike Week originally inspired the three-time Virginia State Poster Contest champion to shift his concentration from oil painting portraits to the chrome and leather of custom-designed motorcycles.
Clients of Chris Cruz Artistry are offered air brush artwork, portraiture, intricate hand pin striping, painted graphics, glass etching, custom fabrication, bodywork and overall paint finishes. Therefore, the finished product is only limited by the clients’ own imaginations, Cruz says.
While Cruz’s art is not exclusive to motorcycles—he still does commercial portrait painting, sign painting and truck lettering—it was his portfolio of Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, Native American and NASCAR-themed motorcycles that caught the attention of the DeLand Museum of Art.
The museum approached Cruz to be the feature of “The Art of Chrome and Leather” exhibit in 2004, he says. The original exhibit included Cruz specifically and presented only a few bikes.
“This year I said, ‘Let’s make this bigger,’” Cruz says. “And we filled up the exhibit with custom bikes.”
“The Art of Chrome and Leather” exhibit is now in its second year and includes custom motorcycles built by Cyril Huze and painted by Cruz. The exhibit takes place just in time for Bike Week and is a huge moneymaker for the museum, according to David Fiphian, exhibition coordinator.
“Last year, the exhibit featured Chris specifically, and we tried to evolve into something bigger this time,” Fiphian says. “Chris helped more than anyone, and we wanted to get more hand-built motorcycles. We did it to a degree, but it is still a show accidentally about Chris.”
The popular exhibit has spread beyond the walls of the museum, and both Cruz and Huze’s bikes are featured in Bike Week shows that are not sponsored by the museum. Cruz is also a part of a privately commissioned project that will result in the $100,000 “Paragon” bike being auctioned off to benefit Art for Kids.
All the attention would get to most people, but after being asked about a potential spot on a new Discovery Channel program, the soft-spoken artist, in his paint-splattered jeans, sweatshirt and work boots goes back to sketching flames on a black tank that is part of his current project, and his only response is, “Oh, you heard about that?”