The Paint-Booth at CO-OP Concepts

If you are anything like me, one whiff of that highly toxic smell of Bondo, and you are back in time crawling around that dusty auto body shop that your brother once worked. If my memory doesn’t fail me, I'm about 13 years old, standing in a very bright white room. "Skyler, this here is a paint booth. It cost me a little over 20 grand to have put in." My brother's boss tells me in a rough Oklahoman accent.

I probably was in aww, but what's 20 grand to a kid? What is a paint booth to a kid? I guess it did stick with me. I always take notice of a shop that has a paint booth in it. It's quintessential to any custom fab shop. It's like a restaurant that has a wine cellar. They know what they are doing.

On this particular day, Michael, the paint specialist, was throwing a coat of high-end paint on the freshly fabricated racks for a boutique shop in Manhattan named, Theory. I was on assignment and in the way but, Michael was kind enough to let me take pictures as he layered the second coat of paint. As most craft-driven folks do, Michael studied my every move with the lighting and camera. Mentioning to me the details he noticed I was getting. I then thought, not only does CO-OP have a world-class paint booth, but they also have a world-class painter.