Justin Drew Pictures
Trisha Smith
Photos
But the creative engine that drives artist Justin Drew is running at full force, moving at high speed into a new world of glitz, glamour and art ingenuity. The energized talent within this young 34-year-old is turning heads when it comes to the formation of art, fashion and business.
From once doing backflips for a dollar to now traveling with his own production team, Justin is the quintessential “rags to riches” story.
After dropping out of school in sixth grade, Justin never thought in his wildest dreams that his journey would be as colorful and thriving as it is.
He’s been on the go since the age of 15, hitchhiking across America in the ’90s, following the Grateful Dead for years. Shortly after Jerry Garcia’s death, this “Deadhead” bought himself a one-way ticket to Maui and never looked back.
“There was just something calling me to the island,” said Justin.
At the beginning, he remembers his aboriginal, nomadic lifestyle of living in the trees of the Nahiku jungle off Hana Highway to the cow pastures of Upcountry. Adventures of hitchhiking, surfing and cruising helped churn his creative hand. The money he earned mowing lawns and by doing handyman work kept him afloat. Soon, this “caveman” of sorts would be on his way to becoming the full-fledged businessman he is today.
“I literally started my company out of my sleeping bag,” said Justin. “I was just sitting on all this art. I had tons of great designs on paper.”
In 1997, he formed Justin Drew Pictures, doing some design work for a hip-hop clothing store and a cookie company.
Justin’s aptitude and “entrepreneurial instincts” caught the eyes of several, including award-winning scientist Dr. Patrick Flanagan, a “venture capitalist” who helped finance his efforts to design a cartoon for television.
He “danced” around the West Coast for a few years, moving around San Francisco, Los Angeles and back to Maui, after several television opportunities fizzled.
Justin’s roller coaster ride continued as he lived off tips from henna shops, such as Body Designs in Lahaina. “Henna expanded my pattern of art—an evolution of my talents over the years,” he said.
He continued to reinvent himself, doing provocative body art that was much more than henna and “went independent” at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Wailea in 2002. He has also worked at the Fairmont Kea Lani and the Four Seasons on Lana‘i, and still works for them when he can. His mother is currently manages Justin Drew Pictures in Wailea.
“That was really special for me to be able to move her out here,” he said.
Justin set up a cabana at the pool, where he worked for a variety of guests, including celebrity clientele. He also provided private room service, and once catering to the demands of rocker Courtney Love.
“She was one of the first clients that I started experimenting with color on,” said Justin. “That was a wild week...”
He has been busy traveling, generating quite a buzz in fashion shows and promotional events. His work has even been featured in Playboy Magazine.
“Ladies hire me to dress them when they can’t find anything to wear,” he said. “I respect every woman I work on. This wasn’t just some bright idea—it was a gift.”
He creates outfits from his special patented liquid latex formula, crystals and fine silver to make “temporary high fashion body art,” or as he calls it, “The Caviar of Body Art.” He won’t reveal his secret recipe though, which he patented in 2002—a “holographic ink.”
Justin draws original, spontaneous 3-D designs. Nightclubs pay him a hefty fee to set up, as women literally line up to be chosen to lay down as his next blank canvas, as he “weaves” clothes with a special application bottle.
“It’s not body paint; it’s body art,” said Justin. “I love working in the moment.”
Private investors are sponsoring his current two-year tour, which has already taken him from Maui to the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C., to high-end nightclubs from Los Angeles to South Beach, Miami. He’s been doing cultural and music events such as the Rothbury and Bonnaroo festivals and of course, Mardi Gras.
This innovator also started his entertainment company, Made It Up, in 2004, which is in the midst of producing a reality series. He also formed Alter Jewelry, which will come out by summer’s end.
This imaginative free spirit is on quite an exciting journey, and is very proud to have Maui as his homebase, returning every 45 days or so. He even flies in for special events, working through party planners, Envisions Entertainment. Recently, he flew in for just four hours for an event.
“I’ll just have to accept that this is my job placement on this planet,” he said buoyantly. “I feel blessed and excited for the future.”
For more information, visit www.justindrewpictures.com and follow his artistic endeavors and product lines.
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