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No! Not the Car Wash!

Enjoying the moment … and Scott Wade’s impermanent art

Many folks would cuss a dusty road. Not Scott Wade. Thanks to his quirky genius, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative member magically transforms the dirt and grunge on vehicles’ rear windows into impermanent works of art.

Using his fingers, paintbrushes and other tools, Wade sculpts dust into amazing images. One masterpiece re-created Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” on the same window.

The 52-year-old Wade has demonstrated his self-described Dirty Car Art around the globe: “When someone asks which of my pieces I like best, I steal a line from Frank Lloyd Wright and say, ‘The next one!’ ”

The ideal art vehicle, Wade says, is one that’s been driven on a dirt road for about a week, with its dust-crusted rear window becoming a natural canvas (although he typically won’t draw on someone’s vehicle unless asked).

For years, Wade and his wife, Robin Wood, lived off a caliche road near San Marcos. They now live in a paved subdivision near Wimberley. But not to worry: Whether it’s drawing on the windows of their hatchbacks or on vehicles at a festival or corporate event, Wade can dirty up a window quick with a method involving a light coat of oil and the blowing of dust.

Wade has demonstrated his grimy gift of drawing on such TV shows as the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels.” He even starred in a music video with the Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma.

There is one place where Wade’s art doesn’t fade: his website, www.dirtycarart.com.

“Creating art that doesn’t last is a meditation on the impermanence of things,” he says. “My art reminds me always to enjoy the moment.”

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Sheryl-Smith Rodgers is a frequent contributor to Texas Co-op Power.