just watched Rides. Once again Mike, you blow me away! awesome stuff. Your the man! And Yvonne Macaillis is the woman! Holy $#!+ I'm envious....... Posted by Mark Perkins (Member # 296) on :
Awesome paint work by both.......they called it a draw......Yvonne gets my vote though.....she's a lil bit cuter than Mike Posted by Harris Kohen (Member # 2139) on :
Hey I gotta vote for Yvonne too, but hey not only is she cuter, but she has alot less years doing this kind of work. Yvonne also had a great mentor and teacher in Tom Kelly. I got to meet her last year and can only say she was alot quieter than she was on TV. She does some awesome work though.
Nice job by both of you and even I would have had a hard time choosing just one.
Hey Mikey, will those cars be at any shows anywhere? such as SEMA or the custom car shows?
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Awesome job Mike, Yvonne and the crews!
The "crew" at DC Auto Body starts tearing down my truck tomorrow morning, doing the body work and shooting it black. Come Saturday, it's airbrush time for me! Originally, I didn't have anything planned for the hood, but after watching that show, I'll probably be up all night thinking up stuff to add to it...lol!
INSPIRATIONAL!
Rapid
Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
As a newly enlightened cable watcher, I must say that I'm just giddy and tickled (sorry, for the silly adjectives, but it's true) to know Mike.
That Yvonne chick is terrific, and I must say that her design and execution was C R I S P ! Her car had PUNCH!
But my vote is still on Mike.
There is something about Mike that I admire more than anything. It's not only his obvious talent (today the word "talent" & "artist" can be so flippant) .... but mostly his absolute, all consuming L O V E for what he does. To be able to wake up each morning with the drive to do what he does, as he does ... with the enthuisiasm and focus he does it. Anyone who has ever been to a meet that encompasses Mikes knows what I'm talking about.
I so admire and envy that.
To top things off, not only is he good (okay, GREAT) ... but he's a willing and eager teacher.
Mike, I'm filled with pride for you.
Nettie
[ August 10, 2005, 12:16 AM: Message edited by: Janette Balogh ]
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Still walking around in a daze after watching!
WOW! What a bunch of talent!
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
It was spectacular! She was great but Mike had my vote.
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
thanks for the reminders from my friends to the east!! Just finished watching & that was absolutely inspirational! Both cars came out fantastic! Mike surprise finishing touch when I thought he was done really made that job. Untill then I was willing to vote for Yvonne. Mikes technical expertise was already amazing, but his car would not have been my choice to drive untill the blue came out... but it was a hands down winner in my book once it was done. Calling it a draw was great TV though. Who said you need contrived macho conflict to sell automotive TV? (I don't knw, I thought someone said that about all the usual monster build-off drama crap...)
Posted by Jill Marie Welsh (Member # 1912) on :
..she was just quiet cuz she was with YOU, Harris! I liked the cleanness of Yvonne's car, and I liked the detail of Mikes. It's a win-win situation for EVERYONE, cuz now maybe John Q. Public will see the work and skill that goes into these projects. You couldn't make either of these jobs with a Versacamm....nothing like the look of real hand painting. Now we need to teach that gal how to stripe! Any volunteers, guys? Love....Jill
Posted by Felix Marcano (Member # 1833) on :
Congrats to both of you! Awesome cars!
I vote for... ... The G6!
LOL!!!
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
I have to chime in with everyone else - what a tremendous display of talent. And it was especially good not to have to watch a bunch of contrived conflict and shouting and pressure building scenes - just two great artists displaying their abilities.
I would have to say that Yvonne has a better looking belly button than Mike's, though.
Even though Mike displayed his use of computers, it was just raw passion that came out of both of them. It was evident that whatever tools they used they were just that...tools, nothing that took they place of what was inside them.
I watched it twice. It was on at 7:00 and then again at 10:00, and it was even better the second time.
It would be interesting to hear how many man (and woman) hours went into those works of art.
Even the panel that Mike did of "Rides" with his True Fire was exceptional.
It was refreshing to see a TV program that centered around the special abilities of two fine folks, without a bunch of "drama". Hopefully, it will inspire some young people to follow in the footsteps of these two.
Now, I have to go coat out some MDO.
Posted by Randy Campbell (Member # 2675) on :
What a team they would make EH!
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
In my eyes, Mikes was the best design. Yvonnes was great work also, but having to choose, Id pick Mikes. The technical aspects of his rendering on that car were mindboggling. His putting Yvonnes portrait on the back was awesome too. Bet that tickled her to death. Great stuff!
Posted by Felix Marcano (Member # 1833) on :
Hey where can we see more of her work?
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Did anyone else catch the Letterhead Meet panel in Mike's office???????
Right about the 44 minute mark of the show, they did a straight-on shot of the panel. It says... Mike Lavallee (with a huge purple L outlined in gold), Letterheads 1996, Galena, Missouri.
Mike, who painted your panel???????
[ August 10, 2005, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: Kimberly Zanetti ]
Posted by ROLAND PINAN (Member # 2724) on :
AWESOME work on both sides.I agree with Raymond about display of amazing talent without all the bull.A well done show on two amazing talents. Personally I liked Yvonnes car the best,very clean and not too much.
Posted by Mike Lavallee (Member # 320) on :
Thanks Guys for all the nice words and Nettie THANKS FOR JOINING THE 21ST CENTURY AND GETTING CABLE!! WOOHOOOO! you are a great friend!and i love you. I like Yvonnes car too she did a great job! i told her that I'd vote for hers if i had the vote. but we kept to the "PAINT OFF" theme and didn'tdo a bunch of body mods. also we kept to gothic theme too. other than that i thought I had way more belly button than her so i beat her in that department too! hahaha jeff Devey did that panel for me a long time ago. hey I thought we where pretty funny too! hahaha Mike
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
Nice job Mike...not a bad comedian either Posted by David McDonald (Member # 3433) on :
When I think of all the time and effort spent on the incredible details on Mike's car only to have much of it covered up for that awesome blue tear-away affect... I get the shivvvvers. Totaly unbelievable! I turned down free food at my parents house so I could be home to watch the show. Best dinner I ever missed!!
So... where DID you learn how to draw all fancy and suchlike?
Posted by brian oliver (Member # 2019) on :
[ August 10, 2005, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: brian oliver ]
Posted by brian oliver (Member # 2019) on :
Hi Mike, I caught the show last night, too. I came across it by accident while surfing through the channels looking for the baseball game.. When I saw the sketching, the car, and Yvonne, I decided to stick around awhile, and BOY, am I glad I did. For starters, let me add my praise to the chorus here for the work that you and Yvonne did. Definitely inspiring. I'm STILL buzzin'.
But...I was waiting for some questions to be answered. Questions like: 1) How long did this whole process take? It was a mind-blowing amount of work, though totally worth it. 2) Who paid for these jobs?! Certainly none of MY customers! 3) What kind and brand of paint were you using? I noticed that neither you nor Yvonne were wearing respirators. 4) What happened to the cars after you two finished with them? Who took possession?
Finally, congrats to you, Yvonne, and your respective teams. World class work!
P.S.: Take THAT all you vinyl jockeys!
Posted by Felix Marcano (Member # 1833) on :
Hey Mike, I got another question. What kind of pen was that you used? I saw you editing the pharaoh (sp?) on the monitor.
Posted by Frank Magoo (Member # 3950) on :
The best part of this airing for me, like others here, was thankfully apparent, no BS!!! Finally!!! A show filled w/content...
The high-point for me was seeing the "Ol' Master", Tom Kelly. Tom has been setting the mark for over 50 yrs, most western stripers owe Tom for that "look." Tom and his grandfather, the Baron, coupled w/Ed Roth, started Crazy Painters back in the 50's, it's still going strong today, due mostly to the efforts of Tom and his son, Mitch, also very talented. It runs in the family. A few years ago, Yvonne appeared and Tom took her under his wing and opened some doors for her, by that I mean, he opened his shop for her to learn and donated his time to give her expert advice on how to accomplish her goals. As we see, his efforts met w/success, she's very good and well on her way to being seasoned. I know Yvonne personally and have always found her to be very pleasant and full of life, even though she is a looker, her 6'6", 255 lb. husband, quietly discourages any intrustions of that nature....all in all, what a class act!!!! Mikey's lucky they called it a draw, she almost whupped yur butt boy!!!! heheheheh Don't get me wrong, I hold Mike in the highest regards...and he knows that... I commend both shops for maintaining your professional appearances, for once we experienced a quality reality show...it is about the veiwers you know, that's where the numbers come from, this time, veiwers have no complaint coming, this was a quality show. Hope producers realize this and strive to continue quality programing of this nature, I for one, know I would watch more if the quality improved.
Congrats to all involved, Tom, Mike, Yvonne, Mitch, John, Mikey's talented crew, you ALL are a class act!!! Posted by jack wills (Member # 521) on :
It's nice to know that there are "KINGS and "QUEENS" alike in a mostly male dominated world of car art. Knocked me naked! Bamboozled, fried, fricaseed, roasted and slapped. Hot doggy, that was really, no kiddin' a great show by the best artists alive......! Two fine people. GOOD FOR Y'ALL.
CrazyJack
Posted by Louie Pascuzzi (Member # 1373) on :
Mike, Sounds like you did a helluva job. Now when can I catch that episode again?
Posted by Stephen Faulkner (Member # 2511) on :
Bitchin' show !
Mike congratulations on taking a unique opportunity (Monster Garage) and generating even more from that... a lesson there for many to learn from.
Who's next???!!! Love to see some "old timers" vs. "young guns" so much to learn... so many chanels to put it on and no one would miss the other blather!!
We would all like to know more about seeing more of the same Mike
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
Thanks for posting this Dave. I noticed this post around 9:30 last night ... darn I missed it while mowing my weeds ... would have missed the 11:00 re-run if I didn't see this post. Thanks that was cool
Posted by Sheila Ferrell (Member # 3741) on :
Is there a link to some pics of the finished works??!!??
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you are a great friend!and i love you. I like Yvonnes car too she did a great job! i told her that I'd vote for hers if i had the vote. but we kept to the "PAINT OFF" theme and didn'tdo a bunch of body mods. also we kept to gothic theme too. other than that i thought I had way more belly button than her so i beat her in that department too! hahaha jeff Devey did that panel for me a long time ago. hey I thought we where pretty funny too! hahaha Mike
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