Look Stylish...

 Hi all,

I don't know about you, but I try to live in "Tee Shirts".... I don't think it's just a California thing. I see friends at car events always sporting something that says what they like.  So for me, I try to wear shirts that give me joy when I put them on. 

I'm not sure if you've had a chance to check out my "Market Place Store" with all kinds of cool stuff. My wife's art is also on there, so take some time and pay a visit. How knows, you may find just the thing you're looking for. Time to get some coolness on....

Here's the link: https://monique-straub-studio.myshopify.com/

The Aftermath....

 Hi all,

Hope all of you are staying safe, I think I've become a Netflix stock holder by now, as well as put on a few lbs. All of that gets me thinking about getting out and moving around at my next show. At this point, it's "ArtWalk Little Italy" in San Diego, November 7 - 8, 2020. Fingers crossed it won't get canceled. I'll keep you up to date on that. Now onto the "Aftermath."

The aftermath of "Christmas in August" was great! I just want to say "Thank you" to many of you that ordered. I never really know what's going to happen when I do a blog post...so I just wait and wonder when I hit the button to send it out. But, you came through.

If you missed the last post about "Christmas in August," here's the deal. Guess what I have for you using many of my original photographs printed on, "Framed art canvas, Tote Bags to carry your stuff, Cotton T-Shirts in multiple cool colors, Pillows for your special hang out place, Coffee Mugs for that cup of Joe, Face Masks for you and yours to keep you safe and show your pride, and Phone Cases!"

You'll also see some of my wife's awesome art on the site because we've teamed up together! Yep, something for everyone in the family, at killer prices. The image below is just a sneak peak of some of the items. Check this out: https://monique-straub-studio.myshopify.com/

It's That Time of Year

Dear Friends,

Here at John Straub Image Works worldwide headquarters (Big Grin), things are pretty hectic. Recovering from back surgery, getting some last minute orders shipped, and trying to set some time aside to work on a few new images, has been challenging. Before the big day arrives, I wanted to thank you for opening these emails, buying art from me and saying nice things to me when we meet. Art is always cool, but it's always the people I meet and talk to at the end of the day, that makes it special.

Happy Holidays, a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to you all!!

Gallery 21 Show

Hi all,

If you are in the area I want to send out an invite to one of the shows I currently have work juried into. If you can make it to the reception, I would love to say hi.

The piece in the show is a 16"x 24" print infused onto metal with a barn wood frame, call "Solitude."

Shown in a larger format.

A Deal Too Good to Pass Up

Garage Style Magazine, a magazine that knocks it out of the park when it comes to feature cars, art, car event coverage, garage's and garage collections, is very cool indeed! I've mentioned it in the past because they have featured some of my art, but here's the deal of the Century. Because of a new relationship with GSM, I've worked out a deal for all my friends and email followers to be eligible for a special discount subscription! I hope you take advantage of it, it's normally priced at one year for $20. Listen to this, you can get a two-year subscription for the same $20!( US Residents Only)  It's like one year for free! How can you say no!

Here's how to get the deal, click this link: https://garagestylemagazine.com/subscribe or call this number, 1-888-881-5861 and use the promotional code "Straub", click "Subscribe Now" then click the box for two years and enter the promotional code to get your discounted subscription going! Like I said, $20 for two years, this is too good to pass up! Did I mention, you'll love it?
You will!

PS: You know how all this computer stuff works, if you have a problem, contact me!

 Also, you can forward this post to your friends to hook them up on the deal!

Shelby GT350 Reborn...

Shown in this image here as a 24"x 36."

I've always wanted one, but never had one, and maybe this is my chance.The Venice crew is going to replicate the original run of the GT350! Yep, members of Carroll Shelby's original "Venice crew" have resumed production of the super cool "R-Model" of the Mustang GT350. This is coming with official approval from Carroll Shelby Licensing and the Ford Motor Company. They plan to make 36 to match the original production run, each revised to have independent rear suspension. You say, "That's not original", well it was tested in 1965 but not adopted. The new cars well come with a new front valance and redesigned Plexiglas rear window.

I'm sure the cost will give some nose-bleeds, me included. But, never fear if you always wanted one, but never got one like me. You can still have a Shelby GT350. It's a smaller size of 16"x 24" print on metal floated on a metal backing and it's awesome. This is printed in gloss and is numbered with an edition of only 30. A close up view of the image is below. The cost including shipping in the US is $595. So here's your chance to get a GT350!

Drive Safely...

The Pegasus was registered as a corporate logo in 1911, however it wasn't until the mid-1930s that it began to appear as a promotional device on automobiles. Mobil started using it for their 1936 coast-to-coast "Economy Runs" by painting it on cars entered.

Post WWII Mobil became more engaged with motor sports and the Pegasus soon became a symbol in its own right. All kinds of racing could be seen sporting the red flying horse, from Indianapolis roadsters to sports cars, including Porsche, and other SCCA competitors, particularly those in Southern California. The Bonneville salt flats saw John Cobb's Napier Railton Special streak along at over 400mph in 1947 with two large Pegasus logos emblazoned on its streamlined nose. However, times change and by the end of the Fifties Mobil drifted out of direct sponsorship in racing and the Pegasus painted on cars also drifted away. But, that is not the end of the story. Porsche hot rods today have begun to wear the red horse again as if to say, "Don't count the red beacon out."

The one pictured above is a 1940s vintage license frame topper showing a life well lived. Interesting, back in the day, Mobil actually issued instructions for the correct positioning of their flying horse. Sheets of Mobil-licensed decals stated that the Pegasus MUST be positioned such that its nose is parallel to the ground.

The image that you see is printed on archival metallic photo paper and is matted and signed ready to be framed. I have it in two sizes an 8"x 12" for $55.00  or a 12"x 18" for $105.00. Both prices include shipping in the US. It's totally awesome looking in person! If you want to hang one in your man cave reply to this email post. Until then..."Drive Safely!"

Del Mar Motors...A San Diego Connection

Being raised in San Diego, I always feel a connection to my hometown past. How many of you know San Diego had its own manufactured automobiles? Well, check this out. This one called America's lowest priced car, named the Del Mar! Who could turn down $1170 for a 4-Cylinder, 63 H.P. beast? Can you imagine going around a corner in this, the tires squealing like pigs? It was to be built at the Convair plant on Pacific Highway after World War II left the building available. It didn't last long, in fact never really made it into production, only a prototype. However, this wasn't the only car to be built in San Diego, more on that in a later post.

L.A. Lit. Meet ...It was a Wrap

It's always so much fun seeing friends at shows! To all of you that came by my art booth at the L.A. Lit Meet and then the Swap Meet the following day, "Thank You." To those of you that signed up for my blog, again, "Thank You" and stay tuned for more. And not to be left out, to those of you that purchased a treasure from me, "Thank You!" All of you guys and girls, rock big time!

Is It That Time Already?

Must be. This Saturday night, February 11th I'll be previewing some of the metal prints I'll have at the L. A. Literature Meet which will be held next month.

If you're in town please drop by and check out some of my prints on metal as well as some matted prints. The event is at my studio/gallery on 30th St., San Diego. The location is "Art on 30th", 4434 30th Street, Studio 4 upstairs. The event hours are, 6:00-8:00 pm. Here's one of my prints that I'll have at the studio, it's of the ultimate car restaurant/bar in Carmel Valley, Carmel, CA....

Be there or be square...

Print on metal, "Baja Cantina"  © John Straub

A Warm Breeze Brings Back Memories...

I know it happens to you too. You're minding your own business and a smell, sight, or sound can take you back to a time forgotten, vanished by everyday life. It just happen recently to me. The sun was warm on my face and the smell of Fall, I was gone...

I remember as a kid in 7th...8th grade walking home from school on a Friday afternoon, and the excitement thinking one of my favorite TV programs aired that evening. "Route 66" and oh, those 1960 and '62 Corvettes that Todd and Buz drove to places unknown was just to die for. My imagination inevitably would travel with them, mile by mile. It played to viewers from 1960 to 1964, always to the sounds of Nelson Riddel's instrumental theme. Why am I telling you about this?  Well, growing up in San Diego I recently found these images of one of their episodes filmed in my home town. I'm here to share them with you, as you may also remember. As much as I can figure, they headed to San Diego, then TJ, stopping at a BBQ joint and then onward to Caliente. No doubt there was a pretty girl involved in some kinda' trouble as usual...

I just loved it!

The Mobile Camera...

It made me feel good to see this old image. So I decided to show it to you, because it has a bike and camera in it. This here was made back in the days when creators were creators, and not some skinny hippie kid who would put a crimp in a sheet of now-a-days ultra-thin sheet metal and call it the day in the design studio.

Actually, the camera looks kinda' like a, Agfa Ansco that I just put on my photo site, you gotta' check it out, here.

Getting the best View...

Ansel Adams, photographing in Yosemite National Park from atop his car about 1942. The car he was riding high on, a Pontiac Chieftain Woodie...

A very rare car by today's standards.

Photographer unknown...

What Were They Thinking?

I have to admit, I've always been fascinated with strange looking things. Thoughts run the gambit from, "What were they thinking, to that's pretty cool."  In this day and age, it seems that people are too sophisticated to try to sell their products with good old visual creativity, while driving along our streets. I kinda' miss that, when I see creations like the following  motoring optic delights. They were so simple, yet told the story of what they were all about...

Busted...

Shortly following a brief pursuit, a California Highway Patrol officer points out the new state speed-limit sign to the pint-sized speeder. As it turned out, the slick-haired pedal pilot had a long list of priors, such as driving on the wrong side of the sidewalk, popping wheelies in front of kindergartners, and excessive use of pomade. What were they really doing? Well, they were really posing for a PR shot in 1934 for the CHP and new signs.

Swerving into the Pigeonhole

As I was cruising the Internet, I swerved into this item that has been making its way around the car blogs. Through a little digging, here's some info you may not have read. The name for it, the "Pigeonhole" parking lot. It's what you do when you want to park bunches of cars in a small space. Interested in how it worked, read on.

Pigeonhole parking in Portland, Oregon. Not so sure I would want to work at the Texaco booth.

If the Jetsons Could Drive...

If the "Jetsons" could drive an ol' Porsche, a Porsche Convertible D 1600 Super to be exact, this could have been them...  If you're patient enough, you'll eventually see everyone in town coming out of either Taco Bell or Starbucks to check it out. Well, almost everybody.

To share a comment, click Along For The Ride.

Announcing "Along For The Ride Image Works"

If  there's one thing that I've always lacked, it's seriousness, like Charlie McCarthy. Well, I've always lacked a lot of things, but seriousness is right up there with the leaders. In fact, my lack of seriousness is so great that it sucks up the oxygen in whatever room I'm in, causing others present to swell up and appear to have increased seriousness with frowns, thereby reducing my own seriousness. If left to its own devices, this phenomenon, could eventually result in my disappearance into a serious-version of the black hole. Well, not really.

Now, in all seriousness, to the point of this post. I started a photo site not long ago called "Along For The Ride Image Works" for my photographic art prints. It's comprised of Automotive related prints that are available for purchase. Please, take the time to stop by and check it out. I'm always adding new images as the days go by.

This is an image I shot of automobilia that was juried into the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. The juror selected 60 out of the 200 entries submitted. I'm happy to say, I had two entries accepted, with this one entitled "Not my Circus" receiving an "Honorable Mention."  You can find my photo site by clicking, "Along For The Ride Image Works."

To share a comment, click here: Along For The Ride.

Only a Dreamer...

You know what I would do if I were one of the founders of YouTube? I would buy Roy Orbison's remains and also his 1958 T-Bird, because I love his music. Then I would set up the car with him sitting in it at a busy downtown corner. And then have a bumper sticker on the car that says, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." That would be awesome....

The Everly Brothers covered Roy Orbison's "Claudette" as the B-side of a record. "Claudette" was written in 1955 and it was named for Orbison's first wife Claudette pictured above. The first thing Orbison did with his royalty earnings from the Everly Brothers release was to purchase a new 1958 Thunderbird, which he loved. Sadly he left us and we can only listen to #1 hits such as "Oh, Petty Woman" and dream...

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Davis Three Wheeler...

OK...I know I like kinda' strange cars, but just can't get this one out of my mind. It's the Davis.

The Davis motorcar company was incorporated in 1946 to build cars based on a three wheel prototype called "The Californian" built by Frank Curtis. Davis had seen the car which was a convertible and apparently had taken a drive around Los Angeles in it. He soon purchased the car for himself. He then used the three wheel car to promote his new automotive company.