I was never a flower child. I did not grow up in the 1960's. I never "found myself" at Woodstock. I never saw Jimi Hendrix or the Beatles play live. Aside from all of this, I connect with this culture because of my obsession with Volkswagen's. This is the story about my obsession.
Growing up, my grandfather collected and sold classic cars. One day, his father, my great grandfather, came home with a new 1965 Volkswagen Beetle. He hated it. He thought it was incredibly ugly, like most people did when they first hit the auto industry market. He drove it for gas mileage back and forth to the grocery store. It was stolen once and then later found unharmed. My great grandfather kept the car and used to chain it to a tree in his front yard.
After a few years, he didnt want the car anymore and gave it to my grandfather. There it sat in the quiet corner of his garage for years; only to be taken out on nice summer days - which are few and far between in the Northwest. My brother and I loved this car since we have been children. It was different. It was simple. It did everything it was supposed to do and nothing more. If it broke, it was cheap to fix and easy to work on. This obsession grew over the years.
I appreciate the simplicity of Volkswagen and the innovativeness of the early aircooled cars. From the simple colors to the ingenious advertising. Volkswagen has and always will be a part of my life.
The Volkswagen community is full of some of the most interesting and caring people you could ever meet. From online forums, Volkswagen car shows and running into people around town, the Volkswagen owners are all similar in the sense that we all have a story and we all share the obsession.
I love vintage Volkswagens. I am not a hippie but my story extends far beyond the ideological culture that rose from the flower child era. For the record, I have always owned VW cars and (as this is written) I am currently restoring a 65 VW Type 2 Bus.
So, to give back to my Volkswagen community and to further cultivate and nuture my obsession, I am offering up periodic designs for the vintage Volkswagen enthusiasts. You can view and check out some prints and (soon to come) shirts in the online store and throughout my portfolio.
