So after many Kustom Culture art shows I showed at and trying to belong to the in-crowd again (like in high school) I once again found myself back to the old me. I did not get invited to the big Kustom Culture 2 show like my colleagues, and the creative climate in the genre had (for me) grown stale. Not that I don't still love it. Just the other day I traded for some Marx Nutty Mads so I guess it still lives in my heart, but I had to let go of what I was chasing and get back to the old me. The kid who made art because it was fun and nobody ever told me what or how to paint or draw when I was young... I just did it because it was fun. I worked for Ed Roth once before he passed away. I sat with him one day at a drag swap off route 66 and he told me to be my own boss. To make my own Rat Fink. So after leaving the art shows behind I had to find a new job or way to make a living. I needed something close to home because my old job had me driving from Pedro to Malibu everyday. I heard Crafted in Pedro was lowering the rent cost. I was not sure if I could even make the rent on my own, but I took a gamble and with the help of my loving wife and her parents I got a space there. Only one other booth is really like mine and he sells records, so at least I had some place to shop when I had a break in the day. In homage to my past I named my booth Aicher's Pop Kustom Shoppe. I started painting just for fun again and filled my booth with the most fun art I have made. I have some fink stuff there. Some surf stuff. Some punk rock art. Some kid style art. Some Pop art. Even some art I made as my alter-ego "The Dooch". I just finished my first month and I feel like a weight has been lifted (literally too, before I started this booth I got on a diet plan and in the 13th week have currently lost about 60 pounds. It is 27 weeks long, so I am hoping to reach my goal weight by December. Thank you, I know... I am awesome.) So I feel great and due to losing weight I am able to acclimate to the warm summer heat at the booth and not pass out in the day. (It's not that hot really just that before I really had trouble in summer weather being so heavy.) So in my first month many friends have shown up and bought art and gave me praise, love and support (some family and friends have bought and found me supplies and found things for me to customized for my booth) and in addition to that the folks at Crafted made me feel right at home as myself. It has been a long journey to find my place and it is not over yet. To all of you who have helped me along the way I thank you sincerely from my heart and to all the new people I meet at my new site I welcome you to share my new path with me. I hope in some way I can make you smile. Happy Trails! - Scott Aicher -August, 26th, 2013.
Link to my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AichersPopKustomShoppe
