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Hey Baby, Wanna Go for a Ride?1994 Oil on canvas 48.0" x 70.0" Private collection This painting is about the cars of my youth. I grew up in a small cotton-farming town in Central Texas that had the main highway from Canada to Mexico running right through downtown (it's now Interstate 35). We could get our driver's license at 14, but I was an experienced driver by 11. American cars in the 50's were wonderfully beautiful, they were BIG, and they were heavy with chrome. I loved 'em! And the older cars from the 40's were pretty great, too. We drove around all the time (there wasn't much else to do except go to the picture show), and when a new model car we'd never seen before came through town, we'd follow it for miles, just to get a good look at it. The really far-out fancy cars always had California plates. I think those cars and the movies planted the seed for my eventual migration to California. Then the weather kept me here! This piece has lots of personal references. Brownie's Auto Race became Bacon's. All the numbers in the gas pumps are birthdays or addresses. The cash register of the Roadside Rest Service Station shows 1885, the year my father was born. I still love the classic cars and still have the urge to follow the great ones, checking out their beautiful lines and finishes. |