The Steel Spirit is a gallery of art submissions and stories from members of the military, first responders and hospital practitioners (serving or retired). Due to the pandemic, the Steel Spirit has transitioned to a digital space so that artists can continue to share their works and stories with the community. Each month, we will feature a profile on one of the artists. Today, we turn the spotlight on Duane Van Dixhoorn.
Duane Van Dixhoorn has always been an artist at heart. He tried wood carving and pencil sketching, but one day he saw someone with an airbrush for the first time and he thought to himself, ‘Self, you need that.’
He initially bought cheap airbrushing supplies and decided to give it a shot. As he reasoned, “It’s just paint. It’s OK if it doesn’t work.”
Van Dixhoorn was self-taught and enjoyed his hobby, but eventually felt he got to a point where he wanted more guidance to elevate his work. As he says, he didn’t know what he didn’t know. He decided to take a five-day course with a professional airbrush artist and it changed his life.
From there, he really began to excel at his craft.
As Van Dixhoorn continued his airbrushing over the years, he also became a journeyman machinist and a volunteer firefighter with Oro-Medonte Fire.
“Being a volunteer firefighter is not always easy but it is definitely worth it. Sometimes you get more out of helping others than the people that you help, and that makes you grow as a person and a professional," he said.
His art continued to evolve as he decided to try airbrushing on a multitude of mediums: helmets, goalie masks, tonneau covers, tailgates, car hoods, leather jackets, insulated mugs and even fishing lures.
“If it will sit still long enough, I’ll paint it.”
Van Dixhoorn's favourite medium to airbrush is motorcycles.
“I take old motorcycles, retrofit them with new technology in suspension, brakes and lighting upgrades and send them out to be enjoyed again. Instead of energy and natural resources being used to build a new motorcycle, I save an old motorcycle that doesn’t cost anything in energy and materials using my skills as a machinist and artist. Custom motorcycles are just cool. This is my passion.”
When Van Dixhoorn is working on his own art projects, the layers of paint will reflect his layers of experience. “As an artist, I find we see things and events differently than most people and will often express our experiences in art.”
