Maker Faire at Kansas City's Union Station opened up your right brain

From near to far, from here to there, creative people are everywhere.

Car shows are great, and we go to them all the time to see what there is to see. But sometimes, it’s easy to forget that there are other places where fun and interesting automotive-related activity may be happening.

Take the other day. I was sitting around working on my sunburn at a car show, while the 2012 Maker Faire was taking place at Kansas City’s Union Station. I never would have even considered going to that, but luckily my wife Maria and BHo were on the case.

Fancy flames - putting the "hot" in hot rodding

When you decide to go all-out custom, there are few things that put an exclamation point on your statement as loudly as a flamed paint scheme. They can make or break whatever style you’re going for, and unlike changing a set of wheels, they can be pretty permanent. So if you’re looking to get in on this, it isn’t a bad idea to see what other people have already done.

Bob Bond, pinstriper extraordinaire, continues to add his artistic touch to cars all over Kansas City while passing his skills on to others

One of the reasons the old car hobby is so interesting is that it takes such skilled people to make it all work. Mechanics that are patient enough not to throw their tools through the garage wall, body men that are skilled enough to massage metal panels and lay smooth paint, even shade tree engineers who can design everything from brackets to headlight buckets, all deserve way more respect than they usually receive.

One of my favorite side skills in the automotive world belongs to the graphic artist. When you see flourishing pinstripes, faded flames, and hand-painted signage on an old vehicle, it doesn’t take long to determine how skilled that artist was. And if you are paying attention to what’s out there in the Kansas City area, you realize that some of the best stuff flows from the steady hand of Pinstripers Hall of Fame member Bob Bond.