Pinstripes, Paint, and Passion: An Interview with Kat Ruiz Bass

Discover how a love for art, cars, and storytelling led to a career spanning murals, magazines, and custom creations.

Born and raised in the vibrant city of Hialeah, Florida, Kat Ruiz Bass discovered her artistic calling early on, inspired by her late father’s vision and passion for architecture. Her love for art has flourished into a multifaceted career—pinstriping, painting custom helmets, illustrating for CARtoons Magazine, and designing one-of-a-kind Kustom pieces.

Hi Kat. Thank you for doing this interview.

Thank you so much for having me!

What is your background?

My background is a little spicy 🙂 My parents are Cuban and Colombian. I’ve taught my kids to be so proud of their heritage, embracing our culture and love the fact that we look different in a crowd. My artistic background varies in categories. My early teen years I started to doodle in MS paint bucket, but after High school I attended SCTI in Sarasota Fl and received 177 hours in AutoCAD and drafting. I worked for a woodworking and engineering firm in Orlando as a draftsman, kick started my love for digital design. I started to dig a little deeper and taught myself Photoshop & Illustrator.

Where did you grow up?

Born and raised in the “305”, Hialeah, Florida. I was very lucky to be surrounded by the art culture in South Florida. In my ol’ high school days I was friends with the B-Boys/Taggers/Graffiti artist, (whatever you want to call ’em) would pick my friend up around midnight and took him to different spots he wanted to tag (Graffiti) in Hialeah and downtown Miami. Tho, I technically was the Uber but I watched in awe, yelling from the driver side door to put “KAT up there too!”

What inspired you to be an artist?

My Father. I lost him when I was a little girl. He was an artist and an architect. My earliest memories with him are just sitting in a restaurant drawing the cups, forks and condiments that were sitting in front of us. Along with some really cool dad tricks like making straw paper roses. That’s what started me off with some basic knowledge of art & grasping basic concepts like shadows & proportions. I hold on to those memories very dearly to my heart & made sure to share that with my kids too.

What got you into comics?

Sunday comics were my all time favorite. Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, Family Circus, Dilbert, Baby Blues, Cathy, so many to list! But being an 80’s baby I grew up watching the Tracey Ullman Show and The Simpsons pretty much raised me. In my teen years I was obsessed with MTV’s animated shorts Liquid Television, Aeon Flux, The Maxx, Daria, Ren & Stimpy, Beavis & Butt-Head.

What books, or comics for that matter, did you like to read as a youth?

My youngest memories reading comics was stealing my cousin’s Calvin & Hobbes comics and admiring the art.

What was your first published work?

My 1st publication was in Kustom Kulture Magazine Issue #73 in 2019. I was so excited to hear the news. I later found out that issue was being sold in Indonesia & was taken aback that my art was being looked at in that part of the world!

How did you get your work in CarToons magazine?

Marc Methot reached out to me via Facebook asking if I was interested in doing live videos on their page, along with a 2 pager in the magazine as frequently as I wanted. I said HECK YES. He had seen my work online and really liked it; he thought I would be a great addition to the magazine. I was super excited!

How did you get involved with car culture art?

I got pulled into the Kustom culture world by my love of classic cars. I was posting my art on Fb and IG a lot. Some clients reached out to me about rendering vehicles & designing car show flyers. Of course, I super lowballed my talent, was doing $40 a car when I just started out. After that, it was a whirlwind of commissions 3 years straight (I started to care a little more). I’ve reached some incredible milestone that I never thought I would accomplish being an artist. Unfortunately my son was in a bad auto accident last year and I put all my art on hold to focus on my kids and family. No one ever told me how difficult it was going to be for a woman in the car industry not having any extra help at all in raising kids and juggling an art career. I really do wish it was different, my passion for art is so strong and having to choose to stop for a bit wasn’t easy.

You do a live video doing art, do you feel pressure to get things right?

The Live videos were fun. I had to pick art that would take at least an hour to do in one session but sometimes I took longer & sometimes I had to wait till next week to finish. I didn’t stress about it. Sitting at my desk, chit chatting with viewers about the magazine & small talk is what made it super exciting. I looked forward to the live vids every week.

What techniques did you use to hit a deadline?

I am one of those people that has to have a to-do list and a calendar in front of me at all times. Pretty punctual but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I’ve learned the hard way not to say yes all the time. Making reasonable deadlines and crossing them off is the way to go for me. And sometimes you just have to say no. I’ve burned bridges that way but my children have always been #1.

What other areas of art are you involved in?

In my 40’s I finally picked up a spray can. Sprayed large scale murals in Fort Walton Beach & Pensacola area. Spray paint murals are by far my favorite medium so far. In the beginning I had it in my head that I wanted to try all the art mediums I can. 3D Design, Digital design, painting, drawing, murals, face & body painting, painting caricatures on wine glasses for wedding parties, tattooing, permanent make-up, kustom shoes…so much more.

What projects are you working on now?

As of right now, I am on a lil hiatus from art. Currently I am a graphic Designer for a sign company designing monuments and 3D renderings for our clients. Tho, my personal art has stopped for now since my son’s accident & my youngest’s Autistic diagnosis, my full time job has kept my art & creativity alive. I hope in the near future I can get back to where I left off. I hope to get back into spray paint murals again.