Everyday Art

I was driving on Route 537 near Columbus one day late last year, when something strange and colorful caught my eye.  I looked in time to see a decorated car in a driveway, with hood up, and a man working beneath the hood.  I looked for a place to turn around, and drove back straightaway.  As I pulled into the driveway and put my car into park, the man realized that something different was happening.  This stranger -- me! -- wasn't simply using his driveway to make a U-turn.  He was stopping to talk!

I got out of my car and walked toward him, talking aloud as I made my approach, smiling, and all the while exclaiming about his car!  The man let the hood of the car drop, and turned toward me.  I realized then, and have realized over and over again on so many fieldwork occasions, that it takes a moment to decipher situations that are a little new, a little different, a little unexpected.  I think it was so in this case, as we both strove to get into position for an interaction.  But by the time I'd reached him and we stood next to each other, we had both relaxed, having somehow -- through body language, and no doubt too, our separate thought processes -- arrived at a mutual understanding and were already beginning to talk.

The object of my interest and attention was the man's car.  Here's a photo:

Hand-painted Car by George Roberson

I'm sure that this photograph doesn't do this car justice.  But driving down the road, unassuming and unaware, let me assure you that it was a truly arresting sight!

George Roberson, the owner, said he himself had painted the car, just because he felt like it.  He said that he'd bought the car when he lived in South Carolina, and that he's left some Carolina features on there, just to demonstrate its provenance: inspection stickers, a license plate label, and so on.  Under the hood there's a 283cu small block V-8 Chevrolet engine, which is a classic.  George lifted the hood so I could take a look, explaining that the engine is original, and unmodified except for the dual chamber Holley carburetor that he installed, to provide a little extra lift for acceleration, for getting started in today's faster traffic.  Otherwise, he said, he hasn't touched the engine (except to service it, of course).

George told me that he painted the car on a whim.  I think my first question was to ask if he'd painted other cars, or if he does that sort of thing for a living.  He said that he didn't, on both counts.  I mentioned Ed Wiski, and asked if he knew him.  Ed is an artist I'd met in Barnsboro, outside of Pitman, who's developed what's become a legendary style of wraparound art that he paint onto cars and trucks, and on murals in various places around the region.  George Roberson's art, though one of a kind and a one-off production to boot, reminded me very much, in concept at least, of Ed Wiski's work.  (Ed goes by his last name only -Wiski -- which is pronounced like "whiskey".)  This isn't just a decorative racing stripe or wave painted onto the sides of the car, it's wraparound art covering the entire vehicle.  It's conceptual art.  And it's a stroke of genius, in my book.  

George told me that he used Rust-Oleum paints to decorate his vehicle, which he applied using spray cans -- working sort of like a graffiti artist works!  He painted free-hand as well; no stencils or other guides were used.  That blue color, the car's base color, was sprayed on from cans of Rust-Oleum.  Really amazing!  Art is indeed all around us.  We need only look.

George Roberson and his Hand-Painted 1962 Chevy