One time when Shirley Taylor was pinstriping a man told her, "I've never seen anybody pinstriping like you before."
She knew the man wasn't being negative, but she still wasn't sure how to take the remark.
When the publisher of a UK-based hot rod magazine, "Pinstriping and Kustom Graphics," contacted her on Facebook and said she really liked her work, Taylor thought maybe she had found her own style that people like.
This month, Taylor is featured in that magazine, a bit of recognition only six years after she took up the art form.
"I always loved art, ever since I was a little kid," the Batavia resident said. "I’ve always loved painting and drawing, but I never knew about pinstriping until six years ago and I was first introduced to it. I never knew it existed."
Pinstriping is the art of creating designs using thin, precise lines, usually as decoration on objects. The art form is tied closely to hot rods and motorcycles, but pinstripers will also paint on sheets of metal and just about any object that might be of interest. Taylor's mailbox, for example, is pinstriped, and her collection of work includes Christmas tree ornaments.
She got started while attending an annual hot-rodding event hosted by her brother and a pinstriper there offered her a lesson. She's been hooked ever since, she said. After she learned the basics, she started to develop her own style.
When she attends the Syracuse Nationals this year, it will be her fourth year participating, painting panels along with pinstripers from all over the world. She said all of the items painted are auctioned off with the proceeds being donated to the Ronald McDonald House. Over the three days, she said, on average, they raise $75,000.
Last year was her first trip to a panel jam (a group of pinstripe artists gathering to paint) in Cleveland and she's been invited to an event in Chicago this year.
"It's a good community of people who come from all over the world for panel jams," she said.
Taylor's work can be found on her Facebook page.
