by AMANDA WINTERS
Sequim Gazette

Skip Kratzer wasn't born an artist.

He didn't doodle in kindergarten, he wasn't a starving artist in college and aside from some pin-striping in the 1950s, he didn't do painting.

But after his career as a yacht parts distributor in Redmond fell away, he rediscovered pin-striping and found it could be more than just decor for classic cars.

"It (pin-striping) was cartooning, painting, decorating," he said.

Starting off with a few drawings, he soon moved to pin-striping street rods and painting pictures.

Moving on

Kratzer and his wife moved to Sequim a year ago. They had wanted to live in Sequim for quite some time and thought it was a great community, he said.

He got involved with the local art community and will be featured at The Buzz starting Dec. 1 and on the First Friday Art Walk on Dec. 3.

His niche is painting things people are passionate about, he said.

He painted a picture of a woman's private airplane, a wolf on the back of a man's Harley Davidson jacket and a pink bunny holding pink balloons for a woman who survived breast cancer.

"They (cancer survivors) are passionate about that because they survived," he said.

Varied styles, subjects

Kratzer, a Korean War veteran, also paints nose art, mimicking what was painted on the front of airplanes during World War II.

His garage/art studio has paintings hanging on every wall - of everything from Mini Coopers to eagles to airplanes.

The style varies, the colors vary and the method varies, but Kratzer's love of painting people's passions ties it all together.

Kratzer's art can be seen at The Buzz, 130 N. Sequim Ave, starting Dec. 1.

Reach Amanda Winters at awinters@sequimgazette.com.