By the time the 1960's rolled around hot rods and customs had been above ground as a recognizable part of the culture for about ten or twelve years. It wasn't going to go away; perhaps that dare-devil teen rebel persona that
the movies and newspapers promoted helped fuel the Interest.  It didn't really matter.  It was here, it was cool , it was growing, and It was going to stay. Much of irreverent humor, symbolism, and lingo had already wormed it's way into the main stream frame of reference. The nineteen sixties would be a volatile decade to survive. 

The Buck Rogers era of design was coming to a close - out with the fins, in with the muscle.  Social upheaval, the Viet Nam war and a changing consciousness would complete the decade and somehow through all this, car culture managed to not only survive but to evolve.  This culture of the car also managed to help spawn an art movement. It is known by a number of different labels: Kustom Kulture, Comic Book Surrealism, Low Brow and perhaps some others. 

This phenomenon is a kind of traffic accident between the art of Flame and Pinstriping, Car Comic Humor and T- Shirt Art , Graffiti Art, Sick Comic Art, Tattoo Art, Psychedelic Poster Art and any other art form that the 
world of art has excommunicated. 

This was also the decade where we lost our Innocence.   Many of my car buddies put their cars up on blocks, and went off to war never to return. Their cars sat on blocks like some kind of monument to youthful Innocence that was so recklessly thrown away.  But they also seemed to represent youthful promise frozen in time.

For the parents, their son's project cars were a heart wrenching reminder of that most precious thing given, the lives of their sons. Our old cars are like time machines.  They can take you back to a great number of memories and not all of them so sweet.  (oil on canvas 1998)