My earliest memory of learning how to draw was when I was in the fourth grade. I can still remember signing out a "how to draw ships" book from my school's library and naively but enthusiastically attempting to draw the most complicated boat in the book.My father observed me struggling to draw such a detailed ship and wisely suggested to start with something less difficult. Of course, being the head strong kid I was, I interpreted my Dad's advice as a challenge and I set out to prove him wrong. Luckily for me, I did.
Nearly thirty years later, there is no better motivation than telling me I "can't" do something. I don't know if it's the stubborn kid in me still but I'll try to prove you wrong every time. There is nothing I hate more than being told what I "can't" do.
I became infatuated with my new found skill and began to draw constantly all through grade school. I entered every art show and contest I could in an effort to learn as much as possible. I spent countless hours in our basement drawing concepts for movies such as Star Wars which was my childhood addiction.
Upon entering high school I sought to continue my art education by enrolling in the advanced art class program. Jim Gerard, who was the art program's teacher, was an incredible inspiration and friend. Jim and I both loved cars and racing as much as art and we would talk about them every class. Jim was beginning his side-career as an automotive artist at the time and inspired me to combine my love of cars and art. It was then that I decided to study at the Cleveland Institute of Art and major in transportation design.
Despite an excellent foundation program in the fine arts, I quickly became disillusioned during my time at CIA. I was expecting to be taught by the ID department professors but I soon found out that the only way you learned anything was through your fellow classmates. The Industrial Design faculty might have been good people but they were terrible teachers. During my entire three years in the program I never ONCE saw an "instructor" draw or do any kind of drawing lesson for the students. No perspective class, no rendering lesson, nothing! You were completely on your own. Thank God I made friends with two upper classmen named Jeff Puppos and Holt Ware. Holt and Jeff saved my ass by sharing their knowledge and teaching me what I needed to know to survive. If it wasn't for them I would have been lost.
The only saving grace at CIA was an incredible GM/Chrysler sponsored class for car design. Once a week every Saturday we were taught by a great group of designers who voluntarily came down from Detroit. One semester was a GM sponsored project, the other semester was led by Chrysler. The car guys were the only real professors we had. If it wasn't for them that program would never had existed. They were the only real teachers I ever saw within those doors.
Needless to say, if I knew then what I know now I would have gone to Art Center or CCS in a heartbeat. Attending the Cleveland Institute of Art was the greatest mistake of my career and I still regret it to this day.
Out of the four of us who were looking for car design jobs I was the only one who slipped through the cracks. Two of my fellow classmates, Rich Scheer and Phil Kucera, are working in the industry to this day. They were great guys and deserve their success.
In retrospect, not getting hired by the Big Three wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. Although I miss not being able to design cars in the big show, I don't think I could have lived happily in Detroit given the climate. I also don't know how I would have been able to stomach all the politics and nonsense that goes on inside the studios. How happy could a true car enthusiast be designing SUV's all day long for years on end? There's too many suits and bullshit behind those doors to foster a truly creative, healthy environment.
I married my lovely wife Paula and moved to south Florida shortly after graduating from CIA. I love living and working in the sunshine state. I've had the opportunity to work on everything from boat design to web design. The myriad of design projects I've encountered has been the best real world education anyone could ask for. It also doesn't hurt that it's perpetually beautiful outside and there are a million things to do and see. Life is too short to spend half of it sitting inside waiting for the sun to come out!
I also consider myself a die-hard Tifoso and I would be remiss in not mentioning that I had the privilege of working at the local Factory Authorized Ferrari dealer, Shelton Ferrari, for over three years. I was responsible for all of their creative advertising and print including the design of the showroom. My time with them was like heaven on Earth. Everyone I worked with was like family and I got to drive Ferrari's. What more could you ask for?
I left Shelton Ferrari around 2000 when the opportunity arose to work on a major project for a private collector. In the course of almost 3 years I designed and created a 10,000 square foot automotive paradise to house his collection. Imagine a private Disney World for a car nut! Not only am I surrounded by exotic and classic cars all day, I am blessed to have another employer who is more of a great friend than a boss. He has taken me to places and events that I could only dream of and I look forward each day to our next "car project".
The majority of my time is now consumed by HotShoe Studios Inc. and my work. Thanks to the support of a fellow enthusiast, I was able to launch this design firm created in the spirit of the great coachbuilders of the past. We are rapidly positioning our design studio to become a leader in the custom coachbuilding genre. We offer a complete line of design services from ideation to actual, turn key personal concept cars for discriminating collectors worldwide. I am also in the process of setting up an educational workshop program in conjunction with our design services to help young aspiring car designers develop their skills and prepare their portfolio for college.
On a more personal note, I spend my free time enjoying our endless sunny days with my beautiful wife, son, and daughter. I love to visit the Bahamas often and fish here locally as well with my brother on our classic flats boat that we restored named FlatsHunter. I continue to enjoy racing and try to get as much seat time as possible in everything from shifter karts to autocross. Unfortunately I'll never be the next Schumacher!
