Visual Imagination—Going Nonstop And Grateful

A year ago this month, Scrapyard Media’s Brad DiMaggio, Bobby Boyd and I were at Visual Imagination in Peculiar, Mo., working on what would eventually become the “In The Lead with Mark Morris” video hosted on the Speed On The Water YouTube channel. Morris, who founded the famed powerboat paint shop and is its driving force, was slammed with work. Yet he tolerated our interruptions for a few days, while exacting his revenge on the ping-pong table each night.

Paintwork for MTI builds such as this center console are ongoing at Visual Imagination.

Nothing has changed much for Morris, other than having three rubes to destroy at ping-pong for a few nights, since we left. He’s still slammed with work.

“We just finished painting a really nice MTI-V 42 and we’re currently working on another one, as well as an MTI 440X catamaran,” Morris said during a telephone interview yesterday afternoon. “We have a 438 Skater catamaran to paint that will be here next week, and I’m also designing graphics for Nor-Tech 450 and 390 center consoles, which we will be painting for Midwest Boating Center at Lake of the Ozarks.

“And we just finished a 50-foot center console for MTI that will be unveiled at the Miami Boat Show next month,” he added. “Seems like we always have a least two MTIs here, as well as other boats.”

From any angle, the most recent MTI V-42 center console painted by Visual Imagination is a beauty.

As previously reported, Visual Imagination finished a “Game Of Thrones” dragon-theme paintjob in late 2024 for a four-time client on his Skater 438 catamaran dubbed Rhaegal. Most of Morris’ work is far less elaborate, yet far more steady.

“We are as busy as usual,” he said. “Fortunately, we have never had a time we weren’t busy and I’ve always been thankful for that.”

Morris paused, then laughed.

“You were here last year at this time, remember?” he said, then laughed again. “It was when I kicked your butt in ping-pong. Any time you feel up to it, I’m ready for the rematch.”

Problem is, I know how that will go. But I’ll drop in this spring and take my beating.

Because I’ll still get to ogle the latest Visual Imagination paintwork.