Each week, the Free Press features a local business that has used the services of Grand Junction's Business Incubator Center. During the recession, the Incubator has seen an increase in people seeking to start their own business.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Angela “Gigi” Hawks paints fine, smooth strokes — it's called pinstriping — on motorcycle fenders, tanks, saddlebags, car grilles and fenders, hoods, handles, and trunks.

The practice of painting subtle filigree and thin stripe designs on certain well-loved vehicles dates back thousands of years ago when those who were affluent added gold leaf scrolls and thin accent stripes to their carriages. During the 1800s, circus wagons sported intricate hand-carved and gilded scrolls.

Pinstriping is somewhat of a lost art, Hawks said, as hand-produced lettering and pinline images gave way to computer-assisted, vinyl lettering and lines during the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, Hawks is busy since some people prefer hand-crafted art to the computer-generated kind.

Hawks, 24, has always dabbled in art. It wasn't until a friend introduced her to pinstriping seven years ago that she found her niche.

“I was so strict with my hand, I couldn't sketch,” Hawks said. “I had the control over my hand and I knew (pinstriping) was what I wanted to do.

“It's simplistic line work, symmetrical, occasionally it involves gold leafing. It takes years to understand — the paint, the technique, the control.”

The smooth lettering on signs, and the intricate lines on various vehicles are almost always drawn freehand, with no design or pattern created beforehand.

“That's the skill of the pinstriping,” Hawk said.

Occasionally, she applies traditional historic designs using a gold substance to resemble gold leafing.

She's worked part-time at pinstriping since she was 18, and just two weeks ago determined she's busy enough to go full-time.

“I work with collision repair shops and restoration shops,” Hawk said.

She's done several pieces for Big Willie Garage, 1801 Main St. She also paints designs for individual vehicle owners, as well as signs for businesses.

When Fly'n Rooster restaurant owner Steve Danner bought a brand new pearl white Harley Davidson motorcycle, he asked Hawks to paint on it. By freehand she painted two identical pinstripes on the tank, as well as pinstripe designs on both front and back fenders.

“She's quite a talented gal,” Danner said. “Everything is freehand. It's amazing. It makes my bike a distinctive bike. Nobody else has one like mine.”

About a year ago Hawks approached the Grand Junction Business Incubator to help her grow her business, Angela's Pinstriping. She enrolled in an introductory business class, and has since met one-on-one with various staff members there.

“I met with Julie Morey, (small business development center director) she helped me with business licensing, introduction to taxes,” Hawks said. “I met with Annalisa (Pearson) to understand cash flow, my rates. I will continue to visit them and further my business with them.”

The Business Incubator, 2591 Legacy Way, provides low-cost business classes and free consulting to new and expanding Mesa County businesses.

Hawks is mobile and works on-site, at the working artists Raw Canvas studio, and at a shop she rents in Palisade.

“I feel really lucky to find an art that is so well-respected, and not a lot of people that do it,” Hawks said.

For more information visit angelapinstriping@live.com, or call 270-9383.