You know how some people are just born cool? You know the type, have been 'kool' since they could first jibber jabba... born with that kooool spoon in their mouth...didn't have to even try...
Well, i was not one of them!
I could pretend to be one i guess...make up some back story you know? But i won't. Maybe somewhere some kid thinks i'm kool too, i dunno...I'm just Me!
Anyway, i had a pretty slow start on the art side of life. Oh, art was my favorite subject at school and the only one ever did really well in for sure. But spending much of my life as a preacher left no time for pursuing the evils of cars and girls...
Fast forward to 10 years ago and a complete change (ok, midlife crises!)in life brought me to a new outlook on life. I was free to draw and paint what ever so took my fancy. And what do you think took my fancy?...Yup, cars and girls. I'm Like a diabetic in a lolly shop! I want them all but age has wizened me to refrain. That doesn't mean i don't get to look in the window though! The real start as an artist was made some 10 years ago when i decided to try oil painting. A trip to the library for some books and the local artshop for a canvas and a stack of Windsor & Newton paints and i produced my first ever oil painting!
Becoming immersed in the world of Rockabilly and associated genres of music, and the 'kustom kulture' world, i was home.
Nowadays finds a soul at peace, at last in a position to enjoy a slower pace of life by opting out of the rat race of the city, surrounded by acres of weeds and soon to be joined by chooks, sheep and a goat.
Some of the week i restore classic corvettes for the daily bread but when that's done it's time to play on the cursed hearse or the hotrod project. Perhaps some time to work on some sculpture as well. When the chores are done it's time for art...
I dabble in watercolor and acrylics, but really prefer oils and the computer for digital. Of late, more time has been spent in photoshop as i find it cleaner and easier to work on in bits and pieces of time since hours on end to sit at an easal have become scarcer when there are cars to fix, a house to renovate and 3 acres of weeds to control!
As for digital art, I see it being used more and more even in kustom kulture art and feel that at times people struggle to see it as a legitimate medium... i hope to be part of changing that perception. I am 100% of the belief that the old masters would not have hesitated to use the 'latest' mediums if they existed then.
Of course, i still have to draw everything before i get to the computer, some images get a little tweaking, some get a full blown job.
I have several artists that i admire greatly, beginning with the pinup masters of old. There are artists now that i wish i could draw like too... well, first i best mention my wife Isobel Von Finklestien coz i know what side my breads buttered on! Then there is Sara Ray, Big Toe, Martin Abel, Tyson Macadoo, Paul Hughes, Candi and Lluis Fuzzhound. I'm sure there are others but these guys just have me wanting more!
I have had the privilege to exhibit at Kustom Lane Gallery (Hi guys!) with my artworks getting to hang with some greats. I also had a solo exhibition at an adult store of all places! But, the Fetish artworks produced for it sure went down a treat! There are some fans and collectors of my paintings and i am truly Humbled by them.
Often, Isobel Von Finklestien and i share a stall at Rockabilly and car events selling and promoting both originals and prints of our work.
I have also done some flame jobs on a hotrod, a slap base and recently a drum. Who knows, maybe there are more to come...
Favorite music ranges from old school rockabilly to the likes of AC/DC, the Cramps, the saucermen, the Molting Vultures, the satellites, Zombie ghost train, Batmobile, Johnny Cash...and some that i won't mention for fear of beatings...
Favorite books usually have pictures... I have a stack of books on Elvgren, petty, Varga and the likes. Probably the most favorite would be old books collected like a 1958 printing of Esqire cartoons found in a book store for five bucks, and a book on Playboy's Dedini cartoonist. Then there is the stack of sixties hotrod magazines...
In my twenties i developed a passion for American cars and later in life i got to own some: A 68 Pontiac Bonneville, a 63 Galaxie Fastback, a 64 Caddilac coupe de ville and the current ride, a 64 Galaxie hearse. Usually more broken then going these days! On the side i am building up a 29 ford speedster.
I hope you enjoy my art. I tend to look at life on the lighter side and don't take myself to seriously. I truly get out a kick out of both genres of my art, the Lowbrow stuff and the girly art. I like it even more when i combine them too.
