On the crazy train to SEMA

It’s October, which means I’m in a mad scramble to prepare work for display at my booth in the Art Walk at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The annual road trip starts in a few days. I’m following up last year’s trek in the Dodge ACR Viper with one in a Challenger Hellcat. There should be many burnouts and, hopefully, few flashing lights in the rearview mirror.

This will be the first year I’ve been surgery-free since 2012, but 2016 has brought along its own set of obstacles. With our move into Detroit it took a while to find a new shop space. That combined with work trips left me only a few weeks to fit in creative time leading up to SEMA.

I did manage a handful of 100-hour weeks between the prototype shop, my shop, and the writing, but my body and mind can’t consistently put up with it like they could pre-ops. Like one doctor said, I need to learn to be OK with not doing anything once in a while. I always have that “next thing” that I’m going to hustle through before settling down. It’s hard to stop the crazy train once it’s full-steam down the tracks.

One more wrench was thrown in when my ’15 Challenger Scat Pack Shaker was stolen a few weeks ago. Dealing with it has been pretty much worst-case scenario from the jump—from insurance to chop shops, to police being investigated in connection to thefts in the city. I don’t want to say too much before it’s all settled, but needless to say, it’s been stressful. In the meantime Dodge lent me an SRT 392 Challenger; my friends at Dodge and SRT have always treated me so kindly.

Similar to what I’ve posted in years past, here is a gallery showing a portion of the new work I’ve put together for the SEMA Show 2016. Some of it will be available at the show and then online, and some of it was commissioned.

Eric Black has been patiently waiting for the ’32 roadster since 2012; it felt incredibly satisfying to finally knock that piece out. I put the final touches on it last night around midnight.

I can’t wait for the peace of the open road; Vegas here we come!

All images courtesy of Brown Dog Welding.

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