Local Artist Has International Reputation

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"1909 Mercedes Benz" by David Lord
(posted Dec 3)

Local Speedway artist David Lord is among the top 25 automotive and aviation fine art painters in the world. Sixty-seven year old Lord is one of six founding members that started the Automotive Fine Art Society (AFAS) twenty five years ago.

These world renowned artist members exhibit twice a year, at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance each August and the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance each April. Lord described Pebble Beach as the top historic automotive event in the world. The event includes historic races, classic car auctions and the AFAS Art Exhibition. He emphasized that there is no shortage of money spent at the events. Cars are auctioned for millions of dollars. Attendance is limited to 10,000 with an admission fee of $275.00.

The AFAS invites an artist selected by the membership committee to exhibit at Pebble Beach each year. "We meet them and look at their work and they meet us and look at ours." After the exhibition, the society votes on inviting the guest for membership and advises them the following week. The committee looks at the artist's quality, creativity and fit. "We consider ourselves to be the best, and the artist submission list is very long."

Lord, who now has emeritus status, said the society formed from a gathering at the Oakland University campus in Oakland, Michigan during a Concours d'Elegance car show event at Meadowbrook Hall, the original home of the Dodge family. Invitations were sent to about ten automotive artists to exhibit at the Concours.

Over the weekend, Lord and others enjoyed meeting and seeing each other's work, and a conversation arose about the possibility of forming a non-profit educational society for the advancement and educational values of automotive art. Over the years, the society has helped members' families with medical problems, racing injuries and provided educational and art scholarships at the high school and college level. The group is involved with the Road & Track children's art contest to benefit Caroll Shelby's Heart Fund for Children.

Lord's artistic talent started at a young age. He jokingly says he was born with a sketch book in his hands. However, his artistic talents sprouted during his summer visits with his grandparents. "I sketched and painted at my grandmother's kitchen table" at their cottage, which overlooked the Penobscot River in Maine, from the age of seven to fourteen. Lord recalled the beautiful scenery while painting. His grandmother painted flowers while he painted airplanes, race cars and tanks. He credited her for his knowledge of color that guides him to this day; especially with oil paints.

Lord continued to take art classes in high school and finally attended the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He went there because his dream of attending the Art Center School in Los Angeles was not possible. He had read about Hartford college in an issue of the Saturday Evening Post when he was in the eighth grade. Lord held on to that vision to learn about drawing cars, even when things looked financially impossible.

Even when the thought of a $1,000 a year tuition was financially out of reach, the door finally opened to achieve the dream. "I had a Mother that believed in me. She put me on a Trailways bus to Los Angeles from Connecticut with enough funds for six months of room and board, which got me there. Through the college, I got a night job doing architectural renderings for an architect that taught there, and also worked a day job until I had enough money to start school. I went one semester and then applied for and received a full tuition scholarship from General Motors."

Lord graduated with a degree in Product Design and obtained design work within corporate America, but within three years, decided to pursue a career as a freelance artist. He started exhibiting at the Road America race track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. "My original paintings started selling really well to individuals and racing contacts, so I thought, this is my calling, and I never turned around."

During the time Lord sold racing art in the race paddock at Elkhart Lake, his talents captured the attention of motorsports corporations. Over the years, he drew and painted promotional and advertising art for Mobil's US and Formula One racing teams, LeMans, IMSA, Indy Car teams, Nazareth Raceway, BOSCH, NASCAR, Historic and Vintage Racing promotions, and Monogram Model Corporation, among others.

A number of his prints can be seen at Charlie Brown's Pancake and Steak House on Main Street in Speedway.

Lord said the history of automotive art began around the 1850's. The first race in the United States was in1895. Vanderbilt Cup race art illustrators were hired in the middle 1800's prior to and during the early stages of the camera when cars raced against horses.

His automotive art history idols are the late Peter Helck and late Walter Gotschke. Helck was one of the original members of Automotive Fine Art Society and is probably best known as the grandfather of American racing art. He created paintings for Tony Hulman.

Lord said Helck's wrote two books, "The Checkered Flag", a history of the Vanderbilt races, and "Great Auto Races" are probably the finest documentation of racing from 1909 to 1970 in writing and in art. Lord had the opportunity to meet Helck and has acquired some of his drawings and paintings. It is not unusual for some of Helck's paintings to sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Gotschke was a popular artist in Europe. Lord described him as a master of watercolor. "He was an idol of mine when I was in art school simply for his ability with a brush and paint, long before I ever thought of doing automotive art as a profession, or as a fine artist. He could paint with a freshness that none other have mastered, even in other subject matter. He painted in the late 30's through the mid 80's before he passed on."

"Automotive art has always been exciting for me," Lord says, "because I get up every morning and begin my day by creating. "I draw, I paint, I create small paintings, I create murals, but even more, something I've always enjoyed through my art, I get to be a historian and I've also been able to look into the future. I used to tell art students I worked with that 'mileage is the best teacher' and it is true. The more you do, the more you learn, the better you get! I've been able to do that all my life! It's exciting!"