Teddy & Page's Soap Box Derby Racer Paintings.
Two 48 inch by 66 inch paintings/constructions on Russian Birch Panels

Well, the new/old racers look pretty good on my studio "gymnasium" walls. The project is about the actual
soap box derby racers my brother and I built, and raced in the Austin, Texas Soap Box Derby. The "plans" in the
paintings reveal everything about the event, sibling rivalry, formative family relationships and the results
that last a lifetime...

As I worked on this project with no apparent initial goal in mind other than pure de' fun, I realized that this had
to do with sibling rivalry... So I made my brother Ted's racer look like crap (the real deal) and my racer (the ethereal)
perfect in every way!

Ted's racer is actually paper mache' over chicken wire with real tires and wheels (just like we built' 'em back in the
day...) The official wheels are mortised into the birch panel (I found the wheels and tires on eBay in
Colorado)... , and would'nt you know it, when anyone comes into the studio they make a bee line for Ted's racer...
(Jeez! I just can't cut a break...)

"My" racer is all "2-D". It is airbrushed and hand painted in acrylic paint. I could not find an authentic
Austin Belding Flowers logo (my sponsors) so I made that up (too)!

For fun I tried to remember all the old rules and regulations from memory. I drew the plans in the computer and then
went back and researched the accuracy and had to change very little. I first painted the russian birch panels with pink and
blue acrylic paint and hauled them downstairs to Black Swan Screen Printing for the silk screening procedure. They made the
"plans" into several negatives and merged them in 2-3 different passes on the birch. A perfect screen printing result! Then
I hauled the blue panel over to Dan's Custom Woodworking in The Houston Heights. Brothers Tim, Larry and Joe cut perfect
mortise circles for the tires and wheels. There is no visible "reveal" between the tires and the board.
I am thinking about doing a painting of 'ol Clark Santos' Soap Box. He did not get to be in the big race that year.
But that's another story.