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First and foremost, thank you so much for your interest in Artabyss.

 

My name is Angie and I am located in a quiet U.S. town called McCook, here in Nebraska. I have had an interest in the arts from a very young age and at one point was pursuing an art education, when life got in the way. But now that I'm older, I have had more time to combine two of my greatest passions....art and motorcycles.

In September of 2018, I found the bike of my dreams (didn't realize I was looking until I saw it) and fell in love instantly with the Chief Darkhorse. My ex also fell in love with a Springfield and we bought both off the showroom floor that day. Just a few months into 2019, after a long ride, I parked my black beauty in the garage. My ex was right behind me. I proceeded to put her away and went into the house to clean up. Minutes later, he came running in apologizing profusely as he explained how he somehow forgot to put down his kickstand.....and dropped his bike, big apehangers and all, onto my bike! Keeping composure, I went to see the damage. I don't know if it even had a 1000 miles on it yet, but there was my poor tank, gouged and scratched right over my right tank badge :(  After a few beers and a lot of tears, I had to come up with a solution.... New tank? Pay to have it repaired and painted? Do it myself? (yeah...no.) A couple of weeks later while sculpting designs for a cake I was making, it dawned on me.... what if I sculpted my own art to cover the mishap on my girl?! So I went to our most local hobby store to figure a way to create what was bouncing around in my head. I came across the polymer clay and thought, "I can at least design with this, but I don't think I want clay on my bike." So in between sculpting and scheming, months later, I came across a process called cold casting. They powdered their mold with pulverized metal and filled it with resin to create their piece. So I thought, "Cool, this is the ticket." I proceeded to buy the supplies to make the silicone mold and ordered the goodies for the cold cast. The first one out of the mold was perfect....well.... perfect if your tank was flat on the back. And wow! It wasn't going to bend. I also realized I didn't want a plaque of plastic on my tank. So I began to play with metal to resin ratios. Too much, the resin wouldn't set. Too little, and I lost the weight and feel of metal. I wanted something substantial so that if something (or someone) hit my emblem, it would stand up to some amount of force. And that's when I finally came up with my first emblem set. These guys were sturdy enough that they had to be heat formed with a heat gun. I was so excited and pleased, I posted a picture on my Facebook page and they took off. And so Artabyss, defined by art with no boundaries, was made. I hand sculpt all my pieces. I never use Autocads, 3D printing, etc. My medium is clay and paint. My products are durable enough they cannot be molded with hot water or a blow dryer. I have a lovely gal I hired to help manage my office. Other than that, every piece, EVERY piece, has been designed, created, sanded, primed, and painted by me. I spend on average 96 hours a week in my studio... (my social life is a bit nil LOL) I love my clients, my fellow brothers and sisters. Because of Artabyss, I have made friends from Brooklyn to Denver to Dubai, Japan, Australia, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and so many more places. I hope someday, somehow, to go meet a few of these awesome, colorful souls. Until then, 2 wheels up and on the road ya'll!

 

I love creating pieces for motorcycles, but I am also looking forward to diversifying into the canvas paintings in the near future. When that time comes, I will include it with the rest of my Artabyss Collection. Message me about commissioned canvas artwork.

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