Goin’ Tiki Freaky
I pondered who I could enlist to capture up the tiki influence.
Then I remembered an artist whose work impressed me at one of the earlier Lonestar Round Ups, here in Austin. She’d hand-painted an amazing purse in one shot that I got for my wife. Luckily for me, her signature was on it. Cindy Raschke. One Google search later and Cindy and I we were on the phone. I explained that I was interested in doing some tiki art on my truck and that I’d also like to tie in the name of my business. I invited Cindy out to see the truck and discuss options. I’ll never forget the moment she pulled up to my house in a red Honda SUV with hand-painted white Hibiscus -- also done in one shot -- covering every inch of it her car's exterior. She hopped out of her car, and laid eyes on my Lime Green surf wagon for the first time.
Seeing Cindy's personal ride and her reaction to mine, was like seeing siblings meet who'd been separated at birth. After walking around my truck and chuckling for about two minutes, Cindy served notice, “This is like my favorite color. I definitely have to do this truck.” We drank a pot of coffee between us and blathered non-stop about cars for a couple of hours. She agreed to bring back some sketches.
About a week later, she laid an idea on me that blew my mind. “Let’s do a mural on the back of the rear bench. My mind raced. A mural? Did she say a mural? Like those cheesy custom vans in the seventies? She continued. "Something kinda Polynesian looking. The House O' Speed with your truck parked outside of it. With a big-ass Tiki sign.” Suddenly I realized something. I built this truck to challenge conventional thinking. Painted it lime green to challenge conventional thinking. Put in a bamboo and bark cloth to challenge conventional thinking.
A mural certainly challenged conventional thinking. Plus, it did a great job of leveraging my company's name.
Cindy was fearless, and relentless in her enthusiasm. One tiki thing lead to another. I knew I’d found the perfect artist for my truck.
By the time Cindy was finished, I not only had the coolest tiki art I’ve ever seen inside a hot rod, I’d made a new friend and found an artist whose work I could proudly display on the House O’ Speed. I figured, as someone on the creative end of marketing, the least I could do was come up with a more memorable name for her. I suggested she call herself, “CRASH”.
She loved it. And so, Cindy Raschke, artist extraordinaire, is now, "CRASH".
To see more of CRASH’s artwork, buy an original piece, commission custom artwork for your ride, or simply say, "mahalo", visit HouseOSpeed.com and drop a line to Debbie or Cameron Day.
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