Dancers in the wind

Saturday, April 1, 2000 | 9:31 a.m.

Sky art

Steve and Donna Rezac can be contacted for a Sky Art performance at their website address: members.aol. com/srezac/build

Given the right wind, Steve and Donna Rezac can create a carnival in the sky.

The different dimensions, bright colors and wizardry of their novel kite collection create a strangely harmonious display when airborne.

As the couple demonstrated their favorite kites on an open soccer field recently, curious park-goers gathered for a closer view. The 13-foot-diameter "Wind Wheel," made of black-and-white panels, spun like a roulette wheel 5 feet off the ground. A 100-foot, wind-inflated replica of an ancient crustacean wriggled above, looking fierce while showing off its vibrant colors.

Higher yet, a 5-by-10-foot rainbow-colored kite whipped its 120-foot wind-inflated florescent orange-and-yellow tail.

One family stretched out an a blanket to watch, but that's OK. The Rezacs are used to an audience.

Through their operation called Sky Art, they've been asked to fly at park openings, Fourth of July events, ice cream festivals and at new home sites.

The couple travels across the country to attend kite festivals. They're members of the Las Vegas Kite Club, and Steve Rezac designs and builds his own stunt kites.

Six years ago, however, they had no idea they'd be doing any of this.

Steve Rezac, a branch manager at a credit union, had no interest in kites. With the exception of a couple of dime-store kites that he had as a child, he had never flown before.

Kiting was his brother's hobby. Rezac's younger brother was so into kites that when he died five years ago, one of his favorite kites was set behind the casket at the funeral service.

Rezac inherited the small collection. But for six months the kites sat idle.

Then one afternoon Rezac decided that he wanted to experience the sensation his brother had felt when flying kites, so he took the kites to Sam Boyd Stadium, a popular kiting site.

"At first it was kind of difficult to figure out," Rezac said. "But I read more about the sport, visited a local kite store and watched some videos."

Soon after, just like his brother, Rezac was hooked.

"You feel just like a kid again," he said. "Once you have the kite, the wind is free."

Rezac began designing and building his own kites and collecting unusual models, such as the New Zealand-made Trilobite -- the only one of its kind on the West Coast and one of four in the world.

"I had no idea kiting was as diverse as it is," Rezac said.

"If people knew how much fun it is, they'd be flying them," he said. "There's a huge array of things you can do with color and wind."

The Rezacs have more than 50 kites. Steve Rezac built at least a dozen kites, including stunt kites, box kites and wind wheels. He makes colorful banners that stick up from the ground like giant feathers and determine which way the wind is blowing at kiting events.

Using a $1,200 sewing machine that he bought specifically to use on the lightweight polyester and nylon, Rezac arranges the fabric in layers -- lighter side on back -- uses a heat pin to tack them together and cuts away the layers to create a desired design.

"Once he gets started on it, I don't see him until it's finished," Donna Rezac said. "Thank goodness we have a one-story house," she added. "There's plenty of room to snake everything through the house."

Steve Rezac converted a bedroom into a workshop filled with material, equipment and a cutting table. He always begins with a simple sketch.

"I do it more for the art than the science," he said. But the construction can get pretty technical.

The black-and-white Wind Wheel has 100 panels, more than 250 knots that were hand-tied to the bridle and a half-mile of line. The wheel spins because of 4-inch, pocket-like openings that catch the wind. He spent 160 hours designing and building the kite.

Rezac spent 30 hours on "Anastasia," a stunt kite. All of his hand-made kites are named after movies.

His stunt kites -- some have sold for $400 -- will fly up to 40 mph. Stunt kites that the Rezacs have purchased have been clocked at 100 mph. They are planning to build a 6-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide white ghost kite with 40-foot black-and-white striped tails.

"The real rewarding part is to spend hours on something and then fly it for the first time," Steve Rezac said.

Unfortunately, the valley doesn't produce enough wind consistently to accept every invitation to fly the Trilobite or "Bulldog," a rainbow-colored kite that is used to lift other colorful displays.

"There are different kites for different levels of wind," Rezac said. "Some you can fly just by walking backward."

It may take three people to get the Trilobite off the ground, but once in the air with its string tied to a permanent fixture, it will fly on its own.

"If there's the right wind, it's an easy job," Rezac said. "You tie it and you're done."

The Rezacs have flown kites at the International Kite Festival in Washington state and at a kite festival in Huntington Beach, Calif. They've had up to six of their more novel kites in the air at once.

"The best place to fly is on the beach," Donna Rezac said. "A lot of it depends on the wind. You also need a lot of space, and it's hard to find a lot of space."

But an open soccer field on a windy Sunday afternoon did their collection justice. "Now you see why we call it Sky Art," Donna Rezac said as she pointed to the striking display.

On the ground, a small crowd gathered. "It's like all the sudden it's a small town, and you're a kid again," she said. "It's just so much fun to see people's reactions."

For her husband, flying serves as a powerful memory of his brother.

"The more I understood about flying, the more meaningful it became," he said. "Now when I fly it's hard not to think of him."

archive