Car show series

The last time I moved my studio, I had gathered all the loose photos I'd taken at car shows (and printed), and in an uncharacteristically efficient step, put the stack in a box of reference materials. Later I drifted away from painting cars much except for commissions, or when I did paint them, I found new ideas in a box of vintage auto clippings and pamphlets someone gave me.
But I still liked the pictures I took myself at places I'd visited, these snapshots of vehicles-like portraits- instead of people, reminding me of where I'd been. In this case it requires physical traveling to find these objects, and usually accompanies a story- even if the story is only of interest to me. What remains is the beauty and uniqueness of the vehicle itself.
I started a series of paintings from my photos and using bright colors and hard-edge pattern to emphasize the pleasure these cars and trucks seem to give me, and the way that as they become older they get more iconic and sought after. So one, I like them, and two I am using them to explore a place where conceptual meets formal, something of a contradiction. I'm trying to figure out how it can work. 
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