Roth of Ages

  When Big Daddy Roth died, we lost an immense part of our subculture being. They broke the plaster mold when he was born, and if you're reading this you've probably been inspired by him or his works, even if you hadn't realized it. I had mixed feelings about Roth in his later years. He walked away from the culture that he helped create, and felt like he had wasted his youth according to his biography. I couldn't understand how anyone could be so removed from something that was such a part of who they were for so long. He had re-married and found religion, and to him, the two worlds didn't fit together. It wasn't until a resurgence in the traditional hot rod scene came about that he popped back up and made appearances at shows and started creating again. Thats when I met him, sometime in the early 90's at the first Rat Fink reunion to be held at Mooneyes in Santa Fe Springs. I was a huge fan of his work, having been turned on to Rat Fink by my father who was a fan in the 60's, and his creations like The Beatnik Bandit and the Outlaw forever changed the way I looked at cars. He was also very supportive of the younger generation of artists and hot rodders, and even gave a young painter his name, The Harpoon. We all knew it was an honor to have Roth at the shows, and be part of the tiny but quickly growing scene again, but it wasn't until he passed away in 2001, that I realized what a loss it would be without him here. I hope I never take his art for granted, and I can understand him more now than I did back then. I made this piece in honor of Roth, for a tribute show in '01. RIP

"Roth of Ages"

tattoo ink on skin

mounted on green velvet