Jackson native part of Klutch Welding Helmet Design contest

Garret Livingston has been working on his own race car designs for more than 25 years.

Livingston, born and raised in Jackson, owns his own custom shop.

When he was starting out, his primary business was building race cars and dragsters up until 2000, when he started to build motorcycles as well. About 10 years ago, he opened his shop and has built more than 80 drag cars over the years. Livingston picked up a paint gun for the first time in 2019 and from there has made a full-time job of painting cars and bikes under the name Garret Customs, keeping his work in-house as much as possible.

With his years of experience and eye for design, Livingston was picked to be a competitor in the second annual Klutch Welding Helmet Design Sweepstakes. This is a national design competition for the retailer Northern Tool + Equipment. Livingston was chosen as one of two artists as winners of the Perewitz Custom Paint Show in Sturgis, South Dakota, during that city's annual bike rally. He will compete against Ashley Alexander from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Livingston is working on creating his design on a Klutch welding helmet, which will be submitted for a people's choice vote. The public will be able to vote with the winner being announced Monday, Feb. 12. The winner will have their design sold as a limited edition Klutch Welding helmet in Northern Tool + Equipment stores next August.

Livingston said his style of choice is what he called "old school". He uses techniques from the 1940s through the 1970s, which are similar he said. Heavy metal flake, homelaid gold and silver leaf and hand pinstriping are the types of designs he does and will take into this competition. Opting against computer- generated stencils, Livingston lays out the designs and starts to build layer by layer with his hands.

"To me, this speaks volumes of how far I've come in four years to be recognized to be able to do this competition and the opportunity to have to get national recognition or international recognition. I mean, it's invaluable. It's huge for me. I have had a lot of success in the drag racing world, and then now it's kind of starting to come full circle. Now, it's in the motorcycle and paint design. So I'm very blessed to be able to do what I do. I don't ever come to work. I enjoy what I do every day." Livingston said.

Livingston said public voting will be on social media outlets such as Facebook and Instagram.

"My friends will be rallying up support from everybody that I know, and Northern Tools promotes this like crazy. So there'll be so many people I don't even know that are involved in the voting. They are starting to do press releases and different stuff as a progression now," he said.

To keep up with his designs and the competition, find him on Facebook at Garret Customs.