The Client:
Notable author and automotive photographer Sean Cridland and The Brumos Collection.
The Brumos Collection is a 35,000 square foot automotive museum dedicated to the technology, innovation and historical significance behind some of the world’s finest automobiles. Based in Jacksonville Florida, the museum highlights some of the most iconic American racers including, Hurley Haywood and Peter Greg. Amongst their many historic achievements, Brumos American Racing most notably won the 24 Hours of Daytona four times.
The Project:
In honor of Brumos Racing’s 50th anniversary celebration of their overall wins at the 1973 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, The Ultimate Artist’s Edition of Brumos: An American Racing Icon was released in addition to author Sean Cridland’s newly released book-set called, Brumos: An American Racing Icon.
Cridland selected 12 renowned artists from all over the country to design and paint a unique canvas slipcover for each of the 10 artist edition book-sets.
While the contents of each book-set in the artist editions are the same as the numbered Collector’s Editions – these slipcases are the personal artistic expression of some of America’s finest modern and automotive artists. The books are each numbered, signed, and dated by the artist.
Artists participating:
- Frank Stella
- Shan Fannin
- Jeff Zwart
- Bill Patterson
- Kelly Telfer
- Dwight Knowlton
- Kate Cook
- Lyn Hiner
- Stephen Selzler
- Samantha Zimmermann
- Thiago Romero
- Jay Ward
As told in the words of The Porsche Club of America, “Lavishly produced and weighing almost 30 pounds, Brumos: An American Racing Icon comprises almost 1,500 pages in total and features over 2,000 incredible photographic assets and images, some of which have never been seen before. Author Sean Cridland, who previously wrote the extremely well-received “Hurley: From the Beginning” on race driver Hurley Haywood, spent over two years researching and crafting his time to create this one of a kind collection.”
The Process:
Sean graciously sent the canvas coated slip cover to my studio in Texas. First, I prepped the raw canvas with four layers of gesso paint. After each layer of gesso paint was dry, I lightly sanded the cover to create a smooth absorbent surface to work on with my automotive enamel paint.
During the drying time of the gesso, I was able to research and begin pencil sketches for the cover that where eventually transferred to the prepped canvas with chalk.
After reading through the entire collection, I pulled inspiration primarily from volume one, which told the story of the Brundage family and the start of the Brumos Racing legend. In particular, I was inspired by the story of the Duesenberg automobile which was essentially created with engine parts and panels from multiple different vehicles to make the ultimate race car at the time. Coming from a hot rodding background, this story was incredibly relatable for me.
One of my favorite pictures in one of the first chapters was of Hubert Brundage smoking his “signature cigarette”. I knew that iconic photo had to be included in my design, preferably as the focal point of both the past and present imagery.
The numbers painted like negative film strips are a collection of Brumos racing numbers throughout history. I felt this collection of unique fonts and numbers did and great job in tying the story and the past to present artwork altogether.
Both side images were created using a collage of original and historic inspiration photos. In regards to each track – past and present- I wanted the car to be portrayed as winning a race. You can see that I had to use a variety of different historic images to create the background scenery for the Duesenberg.
From the Brumos Collection Retail Website :
“For the Brumos Ultimate Artist’s Edition #007, Kate Cook Has recreated several scenes from Brundage Motors and Brumos history. The front of the slipcase shows the 2011 Grand-Am championship Brumos Porsche crossing the finish line at Daytona. The back of the slipcase shows George Huntoon, driving Ira Brundage’s Duesenberg-Miller to victory at the 1950 Palm Beach Shores Grand Prix, a win that catapulted the Brundage family into the world of racing and to form Brundage Motors, and later Brumos Porsche. The spine of the box shows several of the numbers the Brundages and Brumos raced with over the years, all tinted in Brumos red and blue. And the top of the box shows Brumos founder Hubert Brundage in his MG at the start of the 1950 Bridgehampton Grand Prix. Colorful and vibrant, this is a beautiful piece which will be a great addition to any Brumos fan’s collection.
The Final:
The final slipcover was entirely hand painted in automotive enamel paints. I believe that using the same enamel paint that cars are painted with for this project in particular, proves a unique artistic tribute to the iconic racing brand. The vibrancy of the overall artwork reads beautifully with the clean lines and organized layout of the books themselves. With my artwork for this collection, I hope to have successfully portrayed the bold tenacity, integrity, and spirit that the Brumos Racing legacy has taught me throughout my studies of their incredible story.
Artist Comments & Details:
It was a highlight of my career and an absolute pleasure to meet both Sean Cridland the author of The Brumos Collection: An America Racing Icon, as well as Dan Davis, the current owner of The Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, Florida. We enjoyed meeting and spending time with a number of artists that were also included in the project while we were in Florida for my art show at the Amelia Island Concours. It is an immense honor to be distinguished as one of America’s top automotive artists in conjunction with the star studded artist list I stated above. To have been entrusted with this legendary story and creative freedom from multitude of people made this piece a joy to create. I hope to continue a working relationship with everyone involved in The Brumos Collection.
Author, artist, and auction information, along with beautiful photos of each cover can be found here:
Brumos: An American Racing Icon, The Ultimate Artist’s Edition
Cook’s contribution to the Brumos Ultimate Artist’s Edition #007 will be auctioned at a Porsche-themed event to be held during June of 2023. For details, watch this page or call author Sean Cridland at 505-206-4522.
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