Jason Livery

Jason Livery specializes in custom painted hockey masks for NHL players. Based in Gulfport, Mississippi, Jason has 28 years’ experience with airbrushing after getting the bug as a teenager…

‘I went to a friend’s house one day after school and found him airbrushing a T-shirt. I was in awe – I had never seen anything like this! I ran home and asked my mum for a kit for Christmas and the rest was history.

When I married my wife, a military officer, I needed a business where location didn’t matter, as she was required to move every four years. This was when Head Strong Grafx LLC was born! Goalie masks were perfect: it didn’t matter where I was because none of my clients were local anyway. I really lucked out when my wife was posted at Scott Air Force Base near St Louis – a great hockey city!

I got involved with rinks, stores and events across the area. One day a friend of mine got a job with the St Louis Blues. Goaltender Brian Elliott hated his current mask. My friend mentioned my name to him and I got a call to come in. I was star struck – standing in the locker room with all these NHL players! It was like a dream. When I returned to present Brian’s finished mask to him, goaltender Jaro Halak was there. He asked me to paint his mask and backplate in honor of his good friend Pavel Dimitry who had tragically died along with his team in a plane crash.

When Jaro saw my work he was thrilled. The backplate went viral. I was getting calls from Fox, ESPN, you name it! This launched my career. For the next few years I was one of the hottest mask painters around. NHL and AHL teams were requesting so many masks from me that I couldn’t keep up.