Celebrities that show up at car shows - and some of the artwork I did there.

I spent all weekend at Autorama in Detroit this past weekend. I didn't get a chance to take a pic of Billy the Exterminator, or Jonathan Hilstrand from Deadliest Catch, but I did catch a few.

Here's me with Gene Winfield. An absolute LEGEND in car building and customizing. It was a HUGE honor to finally meet him, and I caught him late on Friday night, so I got to BS with him for about 5 minutes uninterupted, get an autograph, and also a picture. I was stoked!



I also got pics with some legendary pinstripers that you wouldn't know, but it rocked for me, like my man Ray "El Vago" Smith who was given a lifetime achevement award last year and makes freehand pinstriping look like anyone can do it with their eyes closed. He's so automatic, guys that have been doing it for over 20 years watch him and walk away shaking their heads. He's a legend that other legends call him a legend, and I'm proud to be his friend.



But by far the biggest celebrity I caught with the camera that I know you'd recognize was none other than Barney (who loves me and was wearing a huge Pat!):



There were also lots of uber hot rockabilly types of women there with lots of outstanding tattoos, bright red lips, and heaving mounds of clevage, but I didn't get any pictures of them because I was much too busy to even notice them.

I also want to thank Pat for his hospitality and generosity in letting me crash Saturday night with him, which saved me about 2 hours of driving in bad weather.

Thanks for the look,
John

Damn, Billy the Exterminator is one busy dude. He was down here on Friday at the Custom Auto Show.

That's awesome John.

Thanks for sharing.

Way cool! It really rocks seeing you have some good luck for a change.

Cool..............

Woo Hoo Gene Winfield is truly one of the greats.Him and George Barris are the 2 absolute "Best of
the Best".Great that you got to meet him because he has had some health issues and lets face it,
he is not a young man anymore just like the rest of us.Congrats to you for getting to meet yours and mine true greats of the industry.
Take Care
Jim Gordon

Bewber wrote:

There were also lots of uber hot women there with lots of outstanding tattoos, bright red lips, and heaving mounds of cleavage, but I didn't get any pictures because I was much too busy....
John

Without pics... it didn't happen!

lakeffect wrote:

Bewber wrote:

There were also lots of uber hot women there with lots of outstanding tattoos, bright red lips, and heaving mounds of cleavage, but I didn't get any pictures because I was much too busy....
John

Without pics... it didn't happen!

EXACTLY! (This isn't my first day of trying to stay married ya know)

So Pat got those Pics I take it???


mmmmm Bettie Paige

Looks like you had a great time!!!

Bewber wrote:

...am I the only one thinking Pat showed up in something like this???

actually I showed up driving one of these

a pair of flamers and no flames,. pffft,.

nick

buickestate wrote:

actually I showed up driving one of these

fixt, LOL

^^^^^^LMAO

I'd rather ride with the "free candy" guy

Nice!! Lol.

phantom 309 wrote:

a pair of flamers and no flames,. pffft,.

nick

Oh there were flames.

For those not up to speed. I was part of a group of artists that got to hang out for 3 days at a huge car show and create whatever kind of artwork we specialize in, while learning about the others. There were 125 of us, and every couple hours there was a live auction to sell the things we'd created to raise money for Leader Dogs for the Blind.

This is the first thing I did for the auction. It was my first time using water based paints, color selection was somewhat limited, and there were LOTS of air compressor issues, so it wasn't as cool as I'd hoped - but I wasn't mad about it either. It was just exciting to see lots of hands in the air when the bidding started - instead of the guy BEGGING someone/anyone to bid - and it was awesome to see that someone liked it enough to pay $50 for something I made.



It's actually metallic yellow with gold outlining, but the yellow washed out the gold unless you held it just right. Live and learn.


The next thing I tried to make for the auction was a mailbox. It didn't work out like I'd rehearsed, and it fought me every step of the way. I finished it, but the volunteer auctioneer had to leave and my pinstriping wasn't dry enough to get it into the last auction.

Anyway, for better or for worse, here's how it ended up looking, which was NOTHING like I had intended.



It was an awesome time, our 3 day total of sales came to just a tick under $35,000, and I can't wait to go back next year.

No flames? Pfffffft. Please.

I see what you did there