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Transcript

Valentina Trentini’s Winning Numbers · That Car Show

0:00
I think we're in the Millimania. And I was like, what?
0:03
And she's like, oh, that's why everyone is cheering.
0:05
It's not for my car. It's because they think that I'm
0:08
I'm a vintage car in the Millimania and that was the
0:13
best. On this episode of that Car
0:18
Show, Lindsay and I sit down with the artist Valentina
0:22
Trantini, one of the most sought after names in the collector car
0:26
world for hand painted lettering and livery restoration.
0:29
From race numbers on million dollar 250 GT OS to hand painted
0:33
Pegasi, I guess it is on Rod Emery's Outlaws.
0:37
Valentina's work is all about the details.
0:40
We talked about how she got started, the craft behind her
0:42
work, what it's like putting a paintbrush to an extremely
0:46
valuable car, being housemates at Car Week, and what's next for
0:49
her. This is a conversation about
0:52
craftsmanship, car culture and the people who make great cars
0:55
even more special. It's Valentina Trentini, and
0:59
it's that car show. Hey, it's that car show.
1:06
Tonight. It's me, Ryan Barkey and
1:08
Lindsay. Josh is here and we've got a fun
1:10
one because we are joined by someone who's got to be one of
1:14
the most in demand people in the collector car world right now.
1:18
My car friends have been telling me about Valentina Trantini for
1:21
a long time and the conversation has has usually gone something
1:25
like you've got to meet her, you've got to get her on your
1:27
show. She's super talented, knows
1:29
everyone, and universally she's cool as hell.
1:32
So I think the first person to tell me about you was our mutual
1:37
friend Matt Hunter, the soon to be new dad with whom I had one
1:41
too many gin and tonics last night at a dive bar here in
1:45
Denver. But more recently, Valentina and
1:47
I got to be housemates along with a bunch of other really
1:50
cool car people for a few days at Car Week, and I knew then and
1:53
there that we had to get her on the show.
1:55
So Valentini, my God, I'll edit this.
1:59
Oh, teenie. You know when you make up a
2:01
nickname for somebody who just mashed them together?
2:03
That's right, we're all that efficiency.
2:05
Here, everyone, that that soon is not just you.
2:08
Right. Valentina Trantini is an artist.
2:11
In her words. She is an artist preserving the
2:13
tradition of hand painted automotive lettering, gold leaf
2:16
and signs. She's hugely in demand by some
2:19
of the biggest names at the highest levels in the car world,
2:21
friends of ours and people we've had here on the show.
2:24
Whether it's race numbers on a 300SL gull wing bound for
2:27
Pebble, a hand painted Pegasus on one of our buddy Rod Emery's
2:31
creations, or stripes on an Alpha, Valentina just does
2:35
things right. And as a creative person myself
2:37
who knows that the devil is in the details, I can say that
2:40
Valentina is the real deal. We're so glad to have her on
2:44
tonight on that car show. Welcome to the show, Valentina.
2:47
Hi guys. Thank you for having me.
2:50
So take us back to where this whole thing began.
2:53
How did we get here? OK, so, well, so let's start by
2:58
the fact that I'm Italian. So I moved to the states like in
3:01
2013. I I've been a graphic designer.
3:05
Yeah. It was not like for me.
3:08
It's very long time ago. Yeah, I've been a graphic
3:13
designer for like, you know, in my 20s, I always painted my
3:17
entire life. I started to paint when I was
3:19
three years old, went to our high school and then decided to
3:23
like, you know, travel when I was a teenager.
3:26
Then, you know, in late 20s, I decided to move to the United
3:29
States and I was, you know, burnt out as a, as an artist and
3:35
I didn't want to be an artist anymore.
3:37
So I decided to like come to the States.
3:39
Like this Italian company gave me a visa and I was working in a
3:43
store for them and three years and I was like, no, no, no, I
3:48
need to be a creative again. I can't take this, this is too
3:51
much. So what like around 20/16/2017,
3:57
yeah, 2016. I just, I, I was like browsing
4:01
on Instagram. I was like, Oh my God, what I'm,
4:02
what am I gonna do? What like I need to find a job
4:05
that can put everything I know together.
4:08
And then I don't know how, but I found out about sign painting.
4:12
And then I found out about Mike Meyer, which at the time was the
4:16
only sign painter that was doing workshops and here in the United
4:20
States. And it was what I, you know,
4:24
thought and a lot of other people thought he was the best
4:27
sign painter out there. So I reached out to him and I
4:30
was like, I want to learn from the best of the best.
4:33
Please teach me. And he was like, well, my
4:36
workshop was last week and you have to wait another year to
4:40
like be on to like do another workshop.
4:43
And I was like, OK, yes. I was like, I'm going to power
4:47
it through. I'm going to study on my own.
4:49
And then I see you next year. So 2017 I did that.
4:52
I went to Minnesota. He lived in Mazeppa, which is
4:56
where the hell is Mazeba? It's you know, like the saying
5:00
because there's four houses in the middle of nowhere.
5:05
Went to his house one week for this workshop and he was like
5:10
literally the best experience I ever had.
5:13
Like he taught me not just about sign painting, but like he
5:18
transmitted me like his passion, like his energy for like, how
5:22
great this like trade is. And so I decided to like, you
5:26
know, OK, I want to be a sign painter, blah, blah, blah.
5:29
Got pregnant with my first daughter.
5:31
So I was like, OK, we can go to like, you know, I can wait a
5:34
year and then go to LA Trade Tech, which is Community College
5:39
in LA and is the only trade college left in the world with a
5:44
sign painting program. And the program is run since
5:49
like 1924. So it's the same, exactly the
5:53
same curriculum since 1924, which, you know, like they, they
5:58
added more stuff now, but is the the base stuff is like always
6:02
the same. That's incredible.
6:04
Got into the program and then COVID hit and I was like 5 weeks
6:10
in COVID hit and I was like. Once again, perfect timing.
6:14
My God. And then my my sign painting
6:19
teacher dog Guthrie from the program, he was like, Val, I
6:24
shouldn't tell you this, but you shouldn't come back.
6:27
Just like do your own thing. You should do it.
6:30
You have so many like people that you know, because I was
6:33
working in a in a store before in Venice that was like full of
6:38
celebrities, full of people that, you know, like not really
6:42
important people, but people that you know, that have, you
6:45
know, they were known in a name. Recognition, yeah.
6:48
Yes. So I was like, OK, let's just
6:51
try and do my own thing. So I opened Bruschetta Science
6:57
in 2020 during the pandemic, during lockdown.
7:01
So I was like, fun times. It is such.
7:04
A great name by the way. Sorry to interrupt but it is
7:07
such a great name. Somebody wants some branding I
7:11
wish I would have thought about. I know, wish.
7:13
Me too. I didn't think about that.
7:16
My friend Ross thought about that.
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Well. Because if you want to know the
7:21
story, it's a very funny story. We were in Mazeppa for that
7:26
famous workshop with Mike Meyer, and after a week in Mazeppa in
7:31
Minnesota, all the food with the same brown color, everything was
7:36
fried. And my liver was like, please
7:39
don't eat any more fried food. So I was like, guys, tonight I'm
7:44
cooking for everyone. I'm going to the grocery store,
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I'm going to make Italian food for everyone.
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So I did and I make bruschetta and, you know, bread with
7:54
tomatoes, tomatoes on top. And Ross Hasty was this like 18
8:00
year old kid coming from Scotland.
8:03
If I'm not wrong. Oh my God, he's going to kill me
8:05
if I got it wrong. He was a little tipsy and he was
8:10
like, I'm going to make a sign for you so you can just, you
8:13
know, to say thank you. And I was like, great.
8:16
And he started to write to paint bruschetta, but he forgot to
8:20
see. And so we all looked at it and
8:24
we were like, oh, that's a great name, brush bruschetta, Italian
8:30
with the brush. And we're like, done.
8:33
That's amazing, right? I love that.
8:35
Also, Mazeppa sounds Italian but you're telling me it's?
8:38
Not Italian. I think that maybe it's the way
8:40
that I say it, but. That is.
8:44
Hilarious, but yeah. That's.
8:45
Cool. So we're like, yeah.
8:48
So then I, you know, then I open bruschetta signs during the
8:51
pandemic. And actually it went really well
8:54
because I started to have all these clients that like, you
8:59
know, word to mouth, they knew that I left the store, they
9:02
wanted a sign. And so they called me and, and I
9:07
started to paint signs and, and then one day I was on Facebook.
9:12
All the Facebook groups are all the old school sign painters
9:16
because they don't know how to use Instagram.
9:17
So they, which is awesome. You know, you have all these
9:21
like, yeah, 6078 years old sign painters that they, you know,
9:26
they're awesome. And one of them posted like, Oh,
9:29
if there is a guilder in LA, I have a job for them.
9:33
And I was like me not at all. I probably, I did one job for my
9:38
husband studio. That's it for, you know, with
9:41
gold leaf. And then he was like, no, you
9:45
don't have the experience, but if you were, if you want to
9:48
assist me, I can teach you. And I was like great deal.
9:52
And through this guy Rod trees, which then I found out was like
9:56
an incredible guilder in Encinitas.
10:00
I met Rod Emery. So he texts the Rod and he was
10:05
like, I have a great sign painter for you that I know that
10:08
you've been looking for for a year and a half.
10:10
And so Rod texted me and he was like, I see you Thursday at 7.
10:15
AMI was like great. And on Wednesday morning he
10:19
texted me and he was like, I thought you were coming this
10:21
morning. I was like, Nope, tomorrow
10:22
morning. I never miss an appointment.
10:25
And then actually that Thursday I got there at 6:30 instead of
10:31
seven. And Rod was like, you're my
10:33
person. You're going to work for me, of
10:36
course. Like he loved my work, you know,
10:38
Not just because. I should help.
10:42
But because Rod works at like what, three 4:00 AM in the
10:46
morning, the. Earliest of.
10:48
Birds, yes, like now like I go when I have to paint for him.
10:54
When I paint for him, I I go at 5:00 AM and I love it.
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I work early and I paint Pegasus for him.
11:01
And there's no traffic. Yes, Brava, that's why I do it.
11:06
He's a smart you've. Driven in Southern California,
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you know? Yeah.
11:10
Yeah, yes, that's the thing and. Of course, it's so much more
11:13
than a technical skill, because nothing grinds my gears more
11:16
than seeing a vintage race car with like Helvetica numbers on
11:19
it, right? I mean, you've got a, you've
11:22
really got to know the history of typography.
11:24
You've got an right. I mean, so, you know, it makes,
11:27
it makes so much sense that I'm a graphic designer as well.
11:30
And so I'm just extra sensitive to that kind of stuff.
11:33
And, and, and every piece of yours that I've seen just nails
11:37
it just nails it. So you do 3 primary types of
11:40
work, right? So you do the, the car liveries,
11:43
you do gold leaf, which gilding I think is what you called it.
11:46
And then you do signs. So storefronts, glass windows,
11:50
you know? Yeah, windows are glass, aren't
11:53
they? Yeah.
11:56
Well, Windows I don't know. Flexing glass windows.
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We'll give you a pass on that. That's right.
12:01
That's right. In your rougher neighborhoods.
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Yeah. You know, So can you give us an
12:07
example or walk us through each of those and, and and sort of
12:10
how do you pivot from one to the next, right?
12:11
Because they seem like kind of very different things.
12:14
Well, now what I do, it's like, you know, like sign painting is
12:19
what I love to do, but I'm starting to do it a little bit
12:23
less just because the car part of my job is way more demanding.
12:27
And as an Italian has more history, you know, like there is
12:33
so much history in the cars and there is.
12:35
It's like giving the cars second life to like restore the, the,
12:39
the lever is dead. That's what I really love to do
12:42
right now. But I studied goalie for so long
12:47
and the raw trees under Oh my God, John Stodden talk.
12:53
That other guy, John, is not gonna like this.
12:57
Well, you know what I'll say so, John, every time you said Mike
13:01
Meyer, I was really having a hard time because Austin Powers
13:04
just kept popping into my head. So I know we'll say you were.
13:08
Distracted by the exact same way.
13:11
You were distracted thinking about wildfire, so apologies to
13:13
John. Right here we are.
13:16
Yeah, like for me it's like, yeah, like I studied goal leaf
13:21
with these guys, like especially with John Stodden for so long
13:24
that I love it. It's such like a, a therapeutic
13:28
like thing to do and it's such like a like something always
13:33
goes wrong like even like teeny tiny bit thing they go wrong
13:37
like and then you'll have to know how to make it better and
13:41
how to save the job. Let's say that not every time
13:44
it's something is wrong, but you know, you always have to be
13:47
prepared sign painting. I started to like it a little
13:54
bit less in the sense that a lot of people now, they have so many
14:00
fonts at their disposal and they just wanna, you know, like
14:07
design their logo in Canva. And every time I'm like, oh, can
14:10
you send me your logo like a vector file?
14:13
They send me Canva in a PNG and he's this big and I'm like,
14:17
honey, this is not working, you know?
14:19
Like unless you want the pixelated outline of like.
14:23
Here I'm like, this is not, you know that like it doesn't give
14:27
me that much joy. So I think that I pivot now like
14:33
I, I, if there is like store fronts with gold leaf that I can
14:38
design, I'm all about it Like I did Thunder Rd.
14:42
Cafe and Thunder Rd. motorcycle in LA.
14:45
Thunder Rd. Motorcycle has been there for
14:47
like 26 years Max. The owner is incredible and in
14:51
the motorcycle community everyone knows him and he was
14:54
like, hey, this is my logo, can you do my storefront?
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You do whatever you want. And it was so fun.
15:03
And I used so much gold leaf and he was stucked and you know, and
15:07
I changed the lettering of his, of his logo because they were
15:11
dated. And it wasn't the right thing
15:14
that I thought it, you know, it wasn't like right thing for him.
15:18
But these two storefronts I absolutely love like I had
15:22
lately like clients that they told me like you do you, you
15:26
know, like I love your work, you do you.
15:28
And that makes me so happy because they trust me as a sign
15:32
painter, not as a just a graphic designer.
15:35
Like it's different between being a sign painter, a graphic
15:38
designer because you can do, you know, like when you're a graphic
15:42
designer and you work on a computer is different than food,
15:46
traffic or cars that they speed in front of your shop and they
15:50
don't see your sign. If it's not the right dimension,
15:55
the the right thickness of the letter, the right colors, the
15:59
right emphasis. So we like that aspect of my
16:03
job. I think that car's like a huge
16:08
part of my work right now because I think that I got to
16:15
the point where I'm not just like, oh, the client is giving
16:18
me the numbers and I paint them on the car.
16:20
Now it's like I research the history of the car.
16:24
The client gives me pictures of how the car was, delivery of the
16:29
car was in that specific year and then I do a lot of research.
16:34
It's like it was really hand painted.
16:36
What was the color, how many coats, which brush was used?
16:43
Like how many? Like you know, if the brush
16:45
strokes were like wide or thin, like narrow, how big the numbers
16:53
were compared to the doors or the trunk or the hood.
16:59
There is like a lot of factors in this kind of work that I
17:04
absolutely love and I I absolutely love the history of
17:07
the cars that I paint on so. Yeah.
17:10
So what's the ratio of people who kind of give you free rein
17:13
versus the people who say like, yeah, I want to make it look
17:16
like it looked in 1932 or whatever, right.
17:18
I mean, is it a mix of things or?
17:21
Well, most of the client, most of my clients, they want
17:26
delivery to look exactly how it looked before because they are
17:29
restoring the car to a specific year, you know, maybe not to a
17:34
specific year, but a range like, you know, 70 to 72.
17:38
I don't know when the car was racing.
17:42
I think that it's, you know, I, I think that most of my clients,
17:47
they just, you know, they have pictures of what they want the
17:52
car to look. And sometimes I'm really bad
17:55
pictures and I really have to work hard to like, that's my
17:59
graphic design skills are like, Oh my God, thank goodness,
18:02
because I work a lot in illustrator.
18:05
I work a lot in Photoshop. I, you know, there's sometimes
18:10
that I have one picture of the car and it's like pixelated and
18:14
it's like, Oh my God, what am I going to do now?
18:17
Those are the really fun ones. Yes, like I'm going to paint on
18:23
V8 and a Fiat V8 in September and that one has the Idritz
18:29
logo. The I don't know how you say
18:32
effervescent in English. Effervescent.
18:35
I don't know. It was the first, yeah, it was
18:38
the first sponsor and me and my another client, like one from,
18:45
you know, the Goldwing that I painted were trying to
18:47
understand if it was really hand painted or if it was a water
18:51
decal. Because The thing is like even
18:55
if the client wants it unpainted, I can unpainted.
18:57
It's not a problem at all. It's just to give them the
18:59
option. It's like, hey, listen, this was
19:02
a water decal. We can absolutely water paint
19:06
it. You have the option to choose
19:10
between the two, knowing the history of your car.
19:13
Like make an informed decision depending on how authentic they
19:16
want it to be. That's really interesting.
19:19
I love that you said, you know, you're, you're applying your
19:23
graphic design skills in trying to sort of like uncover the
19:27
mystery and the history of the car when the information may not
19:31
be as prevalent as you would like.
19:34
And I love when you end up applying skills that you're
19:38
like, I never thought I was going to use them this way.
19:41
And like you said, with the gilding where like something
19:44
always happens. So you're having to think
19:45
critically and come up with solutions and problem solve,
19:48
which is probably not things that people think about when
19:51
they think about gilding. They're thinking about, you
19:55
know, you put the gold leaf on and then you go on your way.
19:57
But I noticed. Yeah.
20:00
Like I noticed that you had done Clark's, I think Oyster Bar and
20:04
Malibu is, which is in like the new center not far from where
20:08
Malibu Kitchen was. And I remember seeing that
20:10
center. Under construction and I didn't
20:13
realize until I saw your video that it had opened.
20:15
So it looks amazing. Oh, nice.
20:17
See. And you did?
20:19
And you did. That was gold leaf correct?
20:21
Their sign on the window. Yeah, I did gold leaf.
20:26
I did a mix of gold leaf and metallic paint depending on
20:30
where the sun was hitting. But yeah, that one came out
20:35
amazing and it was like it was a very fun project to do also
20:41
because you know, like it's such a humongous like place.
20:46
Like windows are huge scale and the sun really hits the windows.
20:50
Yeah, you can see it from like a very like from a distance,
20:54
right. And you know, but The thing is
20:57
like, that's what I was saying. Like if you're just a graphic
20:59
designer, you don't have the sign painted, sign painters
21:02
knowledge of how the paint works in the sun, you don't understand
21:08
or the gold leaf works in the sun don't understand the
21:11
difference, you know, so yeah, yeah.
21:14
That that was that is like a a great example of how sign
21:19
painting really has an impact on a business.
21:22
You know, like it's as the a sign is the main thing that
21:29
people are going to see when they come to your place.
21:31
And if it's not visible, if it's like 2 inches big because you
21:36
try to be so cool, it's, it doesn't do the job.
21:40
You know, there's so many businesses like nowadays that
21:44
it's not, it's not worth to not be visible.
21:48
You know, like you still have to pay rent, you still have to pay
21:50
your employees. So it's very.
21:52
Yeah, it's a lost opportunity and it's it's fascinating for me
21:56
to hear like the all the thinking behind the sign and
22:00
almost the science behind it. Like you said, you have to
22:03
consider the factors of like if somebody's driving by in their
22:06
car, you want the sign to be effective, be like legible,
22:10
catch their attention, draw them in because like you said, like
22:12
that's, you know, they always say you only have one shot to
22:16
make a first impression. And the signs are the business's
22:19
first impression. And I love hearing like how you
22:24
make a, how you create something that is effective for what the
22:27
goals are. That's fascinating.
22:31
Nothing classier than a gold leaf sign, by the way.
22:34
And that just sets the tone, right?
22:35
Walking in the door, you know, that's really stepping it up.
22:38
And I imagine with gold leaf, right?
22:40
I mean, depending on how you apply it, it catches the light
22:43
different ways, right? And and I just things you don't
22:45
think about. But to bring this back to cars,
22:49
you know, you deal with some really valuable stuff.
22:52
So what, what is that like putting, you know, paint and
22:55
paintbrush on, you know what, in many cases these are $1,000,000
22:59
plus cars. You know, was there one car that
23:02
was particularly intimidating or valuable that made you eat twice
23:06
before you start slapping paint out of them?
23:08
I'll just. Try to.
23:08
Drop my head around this. I am so lucky and sometimes so
23:13
like naive that I don't ask, OK, I don't ask the car and like,
23:17
you know, I know like the history of the car I like, but I
23:21
don't search for like how much this car is like before painting
23:26
on it because it doesn't like for me, it just adds so much
23:30
pressure. And also it doesn't really
23:33
matter. I need to do a great job on a
23:35
$5000 car or a $40 million car. It doesn't matter.
23:38
Like everything has to be the same.
23:42
But you know, like the first car I painted was for rod like and
23:46
it was no pressure. Porsche 356 Outlaw and then that
23:52
was the only time I asked and I was like oh how much is this car
23:55
and it was like 0750 is one of the cheapest 1 and I was like
23:59
okay. This. 1 is, dare I say, worth
24:05
it, but. Yeah.
24:09
That's cool. That's cool.
24:11
I mean, what happens if you do screw something up?
24:13
I mean, is there, do you have a period of time where the you
24:16
know, what you're doing can be corrected or do you just run
24:19
with it? What is that part of the charm
24:21
you know, or? There is like thank goodness,
24:26
like now there is thank goodness it's like painting on glass.
24:29
So thank goodness there is like like a window that you you have
24:34
to like that you can wipe it up. OK, OK.
24:36
But because I put I put stuff in my paint so it dries not really
24:42
faster, but it dries harder. And I know that I don't have
24:47
that much time to like wipe it off.
24:49
I try not to mess it up, but sometimes happens.
24:53
And you know, like it happened to me one time that a family
24:58
landed on the car, landed on the paint that it was almost dry,
25:06
almost dry. So it was a collar Vermilion
25:10
that never dries. It takes like 2 days to dry.
25:13
And this was the second day and a freaking fly landed on my
25:18
beautiful Vermilion stripe on a hood.
25:21
And the car was a single stage car.
25:23
So every time you touch it, it was scratching.
25:26
So I was like, this is not fun. And the team that was in the
25:31
shop looked at me and they were like, I hope to see you tomorrow
25:35
because I don't this is going to end up well and so.
25:40
That was. Fun it was.
25:44
I prayed all the gods listen. It was like I was sweating and
25:50
but I made it work, you know, like actually it can't.
25:53
Like I cleaned it and then repainted it and it actually
25:57
came out perfectly. And then that was my moment
26:00
where I was like, well, something can go wrong.
26:03
Nothing went wrong until now. Something can go wrong.
26:06
And that kept me like, you know, like into this like state of
26:12
mind was like, OK, something can go wrong.
26:15
You need to slow down, think it through and understand if there
26:19
is, you know, like the next step.
26:21
So now I always think like, OK, I'm doing this, this, this and
26:26
that. Like I think about steps.
26:28
So if something was wrong, I know what to do.
26:32
Yeah, yeah. Did you see the news article
26:35
here in Denver about new street sign went up and it was
26:38
Califarina St. instead of California?
26:41
I made the national news. Like a.
26:43
Professional sign maker right created that's caliper and then
26:48
they put it up and you know all the none of them noticed you
26:50
know, have you ever misspelled anything and then had to go back
26:54
or yeah OK, you probably triple check unlike these.
26:57
Demos. No, I would never.
26:58
Yes. No, but as an Italian, I have to
27:03
like, absolutely ask three times if it was spelled correctly,
27:08
because Italians don't spell. We don't spell anything.
27:12
So it's like, OK, I'm like, OK, can you write it down so I can
27:17
exactly? Like I.
27:19
Need to just look at it. Yeah, no, it needs to be
27:22
perfect. Like for me, like the only thing
27:26
is like we on my client Andrew, we had to like add AT on Elliot
27:33
because we spelled it without AT.
27:35
So I just have to like, you know, clean it.
27:38
It's released. Yeah.
27:41
Yeah, yeah. I wish, you know, I I had to
27:44
like clean up everything and it was like it was a process
27:47
because it's not, you know, like people think that it's easy to
27:50
like clean up like hand painted like liveries or it's not.
27:54
It depends on how the body of your car was painted, which kind
27:59
of clear coat, which kind of paint.
28:01
Like there is like a lot of different things because
28:04
chemicals can ruin your car. So you really need to pay a lot
28:08
of attention. And I know that a lot of people
28:10
use chemicals to clean up on cars, but I'm like, I don't
28:15
know, when I work on a $10 million car, I don't trust it.
28:19
I don't want to mess up the car. So I'm really attentive and I
28:25
just do a little bit at a time to like make sure that I don't
28:29
ruin the car because if not, they have to repaint it and who
28:31
wants to do that? Yeah, yeah.
28:33
The payoff of not being diligent about that stuff is nobody wins.
28:37
That's that's not a situation anybody wants to be in.
28:41
But that's when you talk about like the lettering.
28:44
There was an old Snickers commercial.
28:46
Ryan may remember this. And I'm definitely dating
28:48
myself. But it's the idea of, like, you
28:50
get so focused on, like, making the sign that you spell it
28:53
wrong. And it was this guy lettering
28:54
the football field for the Chiefs.
28:57
And he was so focused on, like, each letter that he wrote.
29:00
The chefs. Do you remember this?
29:03
Yeah. Yeah, and at the end, he's
29:04
standing there admiring his work and somebody walks by and goes,
29:07
that's great, but who are the chefs?
29:09
And that's how you end up with what was it California or?
29:13
California, you know not. But it's plenty though.
29:18
I mean, it sounds like a play for that.
29:20
Yeah, yeah. Right next to what is it,
29:23
Mizapa? What was it?
29:24
What were you in Minnesota? It's really funny.
29:28
That's a good, good call back. Nicely done.
29:31
Yeah, So what's the process? So I I don't have a 250 GTO.
29:36
I wish I did, but maybe maybe this Porsche behind me.
29:38
I want the Pegasus pegasi on the fenders.
29:42
What's the process? How do you price this?
29:43
Like what? You must have a waiting list,
29:45
right? I I mean what?
29:47
How does this all go down? Well, yeah, I do have a waiting
29:52
list now. Thank goodness I'm which.
29:53
Is amazing I'm. Stoked.
29:55
Like it's, I don't, I'm not happy about it in the sense that
29:59
I don't like people that to wait.
30:02
But at the same time I'm like, Oh my God.
30:04
Like I think it's like impulsive syndrome.
30:06
I still don't believe that I'm an artist and I this is my job,
30:10
you know, like, I don't know. It's I think that all the
30:13
artists are like that Hope. I hope.
30:15
I really hope because I don't want to be the only one, but
30:18
yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, yeah, I have a wait
30:21
list. Like usually it's like a couple
30:24
of months. So it really depends.
30:28
Like it really depends on the season.
30:31
If it's before car week is even more because before car week
30:35
everyone has their cars that they're, you know, ready and
30:39
they want their, their, their, their delivery painted like
30:42
right away before a Pebble or before, you know, like Laguna
30:46
Seca. I don't know.
30:48
Well, there's a deadline with that where there might not be
30:50
otherwise, and everybody has the same deadline.
30:54
Yeah, it's a good excuse. It's.
30:55
A good excuse. We're like, oh, we but yes, but
31:01
you know, like for me, it's like I don't have a price in mind.
31:06
Like, you know, it's not like, oh, all my packages are this
31:09
much or all my my round deal with numbers are this much.
31:13
I give like a client a price range for sure.
31:18
I don't go less than a certain amount.
31:21
I started to realize that I have to have a minimum because it
31:26
took me so many years to get here.
31:28
It took me so many years to get fast.
31:31
It took me so many years to get precise and it took me so many
31:35
years to understand how the paint works and also like how to
31:41
reproduce these graphics is not easy.
31:44
It's absolutely not easy. So I'm, I'm gonna tell you like
31:49
depending on the project, depending on, you know, how many
31:52
colors and stuff like that, then I give the client a price range
31:57
and you know, we go from there. Of course, I always try to like
32:01
accommodate my clients, but at the same time, I'm like, you
32:05
know, I said no to my first to a client for the first time and
32:11
it's a really big name and I felt good to say no.
32:16
They wanted just numbers slapped on the car and I'm I, it's not
32:22
me, you know, like I'm not, I'm really precise.
32:25
I can do if you ask me to do like no, but it doesn't have to
32:29
be perfect. I'm like, well, you know, that's
32:32
not me. So it's totally OK to go with
32:36
another painter. It's totally fine.
32:38
It's not for me. And it actually felt OK.
32:42
It felt good, and it's it wasn't the end of the world, you know?
32:46
So yeah. Well, and that's such an
32:47
achievement to get to that point as a business owner where you
32:51
have the ability to say this is the quality and level of work
32:55
that I do and I'm going to stand by that.
32:59
And to have the luxury of of picking and choosing what you
33:03
get to work on, that's a huge achievement.
33:05
I agree. Yeah, us creatives are always
33:08
selling ourselves short, right? I don't know what that is about
33:12
us, but that's just we have to break that mentality.
33:14
Goes back to the imposter syndrome she was talking about
33:17
too, yeah. Yeah.
33:19
Yeah, for me, it's like I, I think that a big impact on me,
33:25
it was my husband. Like my husband owns a visual
33:28
effects company. He does visual effects for
33:31
movies. He he did June 1 and 2.
33:34
That's right, we talked about this.
33:35
Yeah, like he's working on the studio like you.
33:37
Know. He he's been a a visual effects
33:40
artist his entire life and he has his own company from like 12
33:44
years. My husband always told me you
33:45
need to think about as a business owner, you're running a
33:50
business, You're not, you know, you're not painting for your
33:53
friends and it needs to be, you know, you, you have to pay for,
33:59
you know, insurance, car insurance and this and that.
34:02
So you everything is an expense. So and it's really easy to go
34:08
back to the mentality like, oh, but no, but I can do this really
34:11
fast. But I'm like God, like it took
34:15
me so long to get to this point. So many hours of practicing and
34:20
also a lot of connection and networking.
34:23
Like that's it. I'm not, I come out as like, you
34:27
know, I'm not shy. I am extremely shy When I meet
34:30
someone, I don't want to like bother anyone, which is like, Oh
34:35
my God, what are you talking about?
34:38
But as an Italian, then the Italian part of me like comes
34:41
out and then I'm you're my best friend in 5 minutes.
34:45
So you know. I think that I'm the same way.
34:51
Yeah, it's not easy to like, you know, and especially I tell you,
34:55
it's not easy for a woman in a man's world because the car, car
35:00
word is a man's word. But I tell you, all the men that
35:04
I met, all my clients were phenomenal with me.
35:07
Like they never treated me like. They never, like, try to like,
35:11
explain things to me or teach me anything.
35:14
They always like, treated me like you're the argument, you
35:18
know what you're doing. You like, you know, do whatever
35:22
you want on my card. These are millionaires and
35:24
billionaires and, and you know, subject matter experts and
35:28
powerful people and your reputation is everything, right?
35:32
So, you know, that's, that's how you get that next, that next
35:35
piece of business, right? And and, yeah, it's it.
35:38
It was it last year you were at Pebble Beach doing live
35:41
painting. No, I I was in Laguna Seca.
35:44
Last year and this year. Too like.
35:47
Right. I saw the video.
35:49
So yeah, you mentioned like getting all the cars ready for
35:52
Pebble and that was another video when I was looking at your
35:54
feed that caught my attention that you do live painting in the
35:58
paddock at Laguna Seca like while the races are going on,
36:02
I'm assuming. How did that that's.
36:05
Hardcore Valentina. It's a lot of work and energy.
36:09
Right. And like, what is that?
36:12
Like, how did it come about that you started doing that?
36:14
And then what is that experience like for you as the artist?
36:20
Well, think that that like I painted last year in the
36:25
paddocks in Laguna Seca because Andrew Landry Larson, my client
36:31
like which it wasn't my client at the time, have this like 911,
36:36
Don Burns 911 and Greg Burns, which is the son of Don Burns.
36:44
I don't remember how Andrew and Greg found each other, but it's
36:48
it was because of the 9/11 from Greg's father that Andrew
36:52
bought. And so they wanted to do a
36:54
documentary about this car coming back to life, you know,
36:58
and racing again. So that's how Grad found me.
37:04
And he was like, can you paint in the paddock?
37:06
And Laguna, I was like, yes, I am there.
37:09
Like, what are you talking about?
37:11
Think that Laguna Seca for an Italian is the Mecca.
37:16
Like is Valentino Rossi Moto GP the best, the best place on
37:22
earth? Then an Italian will never going
37:25
to see in real life because it's like our Sundays, you know,
37:29
watching Moto GP and watching Valentino Rossi.
37:33
And so when I went there last year for the first time, it was
37:37
just like I was in Disneyland. I was like, this is not real
37:41
life, you know, and painting live there was amazing.
37:45
Andrew is the sweetest guy ever. He's a client and a friend.
37:52
And now we both live in Boulder and I love it.
37:56
And I love how when we were in Laguna Seca and the paddock and
38:01
I was painting, he was stopping everyone and telling everyone
38:05
about me and giving them my business card.
38:07
He was my biggest cheerleader and.
38:12
He and. He's amazing, like he's such a
38:18
sweet person and that's what it does for me.
38:22
And painting in at Lagunasika is just like a, a, a really life
38:28
changing experience. Because what are the chances for
38:32
a sign painter to paint while F2 or F1 cars from the 90s are
38:38
racing next to you? It's insane.
38:41
Or they they literally turn on behind you and you jump because
38:46
you're like, Oh my God, this could just happen and.
38:49
You know nobody else fires in the hole.
38:52
Yeah, it's a, it's a life changing experience, but it's
38:57
also like, it drains you. Like my energy level after three
39:01
hours is just like like below my, my, my feet like I just too
39:06
much. But it's a, it's a, it's a great
39:09
thing to do because then all the car people come to you and watch
39:14
you paint and you meet amazing people.
39:17
And that's why I absolutely love it and I want to do it next year
39:22
too. And even if it's a lot, it's,
39:25
it's really, really good for your soul as a someone that
39:30
paints on car. It's just like, and, but also,
39:33
you know what it is? It's like going on the track and
39:36
see Andrew and all my other client like race.
39:39
I'm like this year I had 1/2 three cars racing at the same
39:46
time and it was just amazing. Like it was amazing.
39:50
So I I absolutely love Laguna Seca.
39:54
So that's. That's I love that so much.
39:57
Live like that is the best advertisement for yourself.
40:00
You weren't even a car person. You were saying necessarily like
40:03
you didn't grow up with a Ferrari in the garage, like, you
40:05
know, every Italian family has, right?
40:08
And I'm getting, yeah, it's a Fiat or something, right?
40:11
Or an alpha maybe? My great uncle, he has, he had
40:19
but he still has, but he's not here anymore.
40:21
But he has a Fiat 500, an original one in his garage that
40:27
I never drove. And his Fiat 500 with like white
40:31
leather interior, like blue exterior.
40:33
Super cool. Never drove that one.
40:37
I never been a car person. I always loved old cars.
40:41
That's that's a fact. I never like new cars.
40:44
I can. I bought a new car and I'm like,
40:47
yeah, it's OK. You know, it's a car.
40:49
I need to go. From it.
40:50
Doesn't matter. Yeah, it doesn't matter.
40:53
But old cars, I always found them fascinating.
40:56
And when I was 18, my mom got this like Dua Cavalli, and it is
41:02
in Italian. Is the 2 CV something Renault
41:06
did? Did it?
41:09
I don't see. I'm not a car person.
41:12
That's why I've. It's the one that you.
41:14
You. Yeah, like you.
41:15
You've opened the top and the stick is on in.
41:18
Front, yeah. Yeah, that and and that's how I
41:24
learned how to drive, you know, so Italian's room with a stick.
41:27
We don't. We don't.
41:29
Yeah, yeah. That's that's something, yeah.
41:33
Yeah, that was my favorite car ever and very crazy story when I
41:40
was 18, me and my mom, when she was getting this soap and
41:45
laundry soap in this factory outside Bologna, like 30 minutes
41:50
outside Bologna. That's where she was getting her
41:52
stuff from. Because they were.
41:53
Maintenance. It was really good.
41:56
It's not there anymore. Oh my God.
42:00
So we drove there and then on the way back we saw all these
42:05
people on the side of the road because we took the futa, which
42:09
was like, you know, this the, it's this road that all this
42:13
motorcycles, motorcyclist and car people, they drive the from
42:19
Bologna to Fiorenza, like from Bologna to Florence because I'm
42:23
from Bologna. So that's why I was there.
42:25
And we saw all these people cheering and I was like, I don't
42:28
understand. And my mom was like the happiest
42:31
person on earth. And she was like, hey guys, you
42:35
like my car? And I was like, Mom, why?
42:40
Doesn't she? Just behind us.
42:42
And she was like, oh, I think we're in the Millimania.
42:46
And I was like, what? And she's like, oh, that's why
42:49
everyone is cheering. It's not for my car.
42:51
It's because they think that I'm, I'm a vintage car in the
42:54
middle, Amelia. And that was the best, the best
43:02
thing that ever happened with between me and my mom.
43:05
And I always going to cheer on that memory.
43:07
That's awesome. You know, it was so much fun.
43:10
That. Is so cool.
43:11
That might be my favorite story of the podcast so far.
43:15
Like you accidentally stumbled into participating in a leg of
43:18
the million. It was a fun one, I tell you.
43:21
Like it's never gonna happen ever again.
43:24
Yeah, but never say never. But you know, it was.
43:28
Fun, but that's one of those amazing like we talk about that
43:30
a lot in my family because the things that we've gotten to
43:33
experience because of the car world and car people where
43:36
you're like, I don't know how we got here, but like just keep
43:40
it's like you've said, where you're like, sure, I can Guild,
43:43
I can like you just put your hand up and say yes and like you
43:47
have the most amazing experiences.
43:48
So I love that so much. Yeah, right.
43:52
I know. Even with Rod I was like, yeah,
43:54
of course I can paint in your car.
43:56
Yeah. How hard can you be?
43:58
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Turned out not that hard.
44:03
Well, now that you've become a student really of the craft,
44:06
right? Like doing the research, you
44:07
know, you know, the history is, is there a certain period in
44:11
time where you think the liveries were just great?
44:13
Like the, the shape of the car, the, the liveries.
44:16
It's just it's kind of the golden age.
44:19
I don't know if it's just like, you know, like a period, like
44:24
all the cars that I paint, they're so different one from
44:28
the other and deliveries are so did like, you know, everything
44:32
that I paint on is so different that actually every time I paint
44:39
on a car, it's it's just such a new experience and it's such a
44:43
new shape and it's such a new like curve or the way that the
44:49
car, the body of the car works. And I don't know if I cannot
44:55
tell you if there is something like, you know, a specific
44:58
livery that it's like better or, you know, like the best one or I
45:03
just think that every car that I paint on right now is just
45:10
literally is so different than the other that I'm starting to
45:15
understand how those cars work. And I think that it I might
45:21
answer better that that question like in 3-4 five years.
45:25
Yeah, yeah. You know, I have like 250 cars
45:29
under my belt and it's like. Yeah.
45:32
I think you got another GTA like you know, GTL 250 like 4 times.
45:37
So now I can tell you that that's the best, you know, like.
45:41
Well, that's one of the beautiful forms, right, Isn't
45:44
it? I mean, those cars are are just
45:45
gorgeous. And and you know, and I'm a
45:48
sucker for patina too on something like that, right.
45:50
It's just, yeah. It's we should give a shout out
45:54
to our friends at Fuel Fed in Boulder, who you have gotten to
45:58
know Mike Burrows and Jason Meshnick and and, and that crew.
46:04
What did you or how did you get involved with that?
46:05
Did you just stumble across the event?
46:07
I mean, did you kind of knew know what you were getting into
46:09
when you moved to Boulder? How did that connection come to
46:11
be? Well, what happened is that I
46:15
wanted to be friends on Facebook with all these like car
46:19
communities. And I was like, you know, the
46:21
Facebook, the algorithm just like feeds you of all this
46:24
stuff. And then one day I just stumble
46:27
upon like Mike's page for Boulder.
46:30
And, and then I was like, one day I'm going to paint at that
46:34
event. Like watch me then, you know,
46:38
and then I met the guys and then actually Matt told me, told me
46:45
about them. And and then when I moved to
46:49
Boulder a few months ago, I like my friend Anthony.
46:56
He was like, oh, if you're going to Pebble, you need to meet my
46:59
friends. My friends are going to Pebble
47:02
and you should be in the house with them.
47:03
Because I didn't have a hotel or anything.
47:06
I was going by myself and I just knew that I didn't want to go by
47:11
myself is not fun. And so actually Andrew, my
47:16
client Andrew, like few like a month before Anthony, he was
47:20
like, oh, I'm gonna put you in contact with Mike.
47:23
So he like did a group text with me and Mike.
47:28
And it was funny because Mike was like, hey, nice to meet you.
47:33
Did you paint the Jaguar? The the the type, the red
47:36
Jaguar, the type last year. And I was like, yeah, how do you
47:39
know? And he was like your, your name
47:43
like precedes you. How do you I don't know how you?
47:46
You're reputation legend. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
47:48
You don't get it right. Right.
47:50
That's amazing. So yeah.
47:53
And I was like, what? And that's when when I always
47:56
think like, no, what are you talking about?
47:58
This is not. This is not happening.
48:01
And then Anthony told me about them And and then I I called
48:06
Mike and the first time that I met him was here and feel fat
48:12
and and I met him, Mack and Derek, and they were so nice.
48:17
Yeah. They were like, we can't wait to
48:19
be in the house together at Pebble.
48:21
We're going to have so much fun. You have.
48:23
Spreadsheets, right? Oh.
48:25
My God. Feels right like yeah, it was a
48:28
big, big thing I. Got into that house on Thursday
48:31
evening at 11:00 PM after like the worst flight of my life and
48:36
I just felt at peace. I was like man, I am in a house
48:40
with friends like it was amazing and but everyone, everyone was
48:45
amazing. We had such a great experience
48:48
at Pebble all together and they came to see me painting it in
48:53
the paddocks and they met all, you know, Mike, my friend Mike
48:57
that he lives in Monterey, which by the way is like the best
49:02
person ever because he was a, a volunteer with his wife for 40
49:07
years in Laguna Seca and he knows everyone.
49:10
So every two meters, sorry, I think in meters, every two
49:14
meters we're we were meeting someone and and it was amazing.
49:19
Now I know everyone in Laguna Seca, which is awesome.
49:23
He was the mayor of the track. Yes.
49:26
So now I know the guys in Boulder, which is the best ever,
49:32
because now I have a community, you know, like now I have my
49:36
community, the community that I love, that loves what I love,
49:40
and that's why we get along so well, you know, also because
49:45
they even you like, you know, you guys are amazing people.
49:48
So how? How you cannot get along, you
49:50
know? Yeah, you're, you're, you're
49:52
kind of we all speak the same language and and it's just we
49:55
talk about this all the time. The cars are just sort of the
49:58
excuse, you know? We just, we know you're good
50:00
people if you're into cars, right?
50:01
So, yeah, right. Yeah, why not?
50:05
Exactly. How'd you get connected with
50:07
Vince? Vince Vinaldi, new Pebble Beach
50:09
president, who's on our show a few weeks ago, 75th running of
50:13
Pebble this year, best 1 yet. I, I know you've done some work
50:16
for him and also Fenaldi Incorporated, I think is his
50:19
business. Is that right?
50:20
Yes, like I did not know Vince. Yeah, it's not on me.
50:26
He actually texted me one day and I was like yeah another
50:33
client and then when he was like oh I have two Ferraris for you
50:37
to paint on. I was like I am there thing that
50:42
I did not know Vince was I do not know who my clients are
50:49
unless they're like celebrities, you know, like I don't know who
50:52
my clients are. Not because I don't want to
50:54
know, but because sometimes I'm really clueless.
50:57
Like I don't I'm I'm in the cardboard for not that long.
51:02
It's been 6 years, but you know that now I'm going to events now
51:06
people know me so it's easier for me, you know.
51:09
So because it texts me that I called him and, and he was like,
51:16
I think that I just moved to Boulder by the by when Vince
51:19
called me like literally 2 days before and he was like, can you
51:23
come next week and paint for me? The cars need to go to the
51:26
California meal. And I was like, OK, I am there.
51:30
My house was full of boxes. I was not like not even like
51:36
remotely like settle in and I flew to Monterey.
51:42
I had some work in in LA before and then I flew to Monterey and
51:48
and then I saw these two cars like he has a 11953 Mondial.
51:56
And then this friend Ryan, he has a 1951 Ferrari Dinale.
52:03
There was a Pebble this year and and Vince's car, Vince's Ferrari
52:08
was in front of Casa Ferrari at Pebble this year.
52:11
Was the Vignelli, Was it the Navy and white one?
52:16
No, it's a red one. It's a beautiful red.
52:19
I mean that whole class was just took my breath away so.
52:23
Insane. Insane like that car was.
52:26
And when he told me this car was multiple times at Millimilia, he
52:34
showed me the history of the car.
52:35
Actually, before I arrived, he sent me a picture of the car.
52:40
And he was like, can you reproduce this?
52:42
And I was like, yeah, it was the number 512, which is the the
52:45
time that the car, you know, like started millimeter.
52:50
So I reproduce the numbers, you know, and what I usually do is I
52:56
draw the numbers by hand and then I scale them more or less
53:02
that I know what the, you know, the measurements are.
53:06
And then I print more measurements just because when
53:10
you put a number on the car, it's completely different.
53:13
Like you can tell me the exact measurement, but then when you
53:17
put the pattern, the paper pattern on the car is just not
53:21
the same. Like you need, you know, like
53:24
you have curves, you have little like, you know, like creases,
53:28
like you have like stuff that you cannot account for when you
53:32
give me measurements. So that's why I print multiple.
53:35
That's. Measurements of the.
53:37
I was wondering about that is like, how do you account for the
53:40
fact that you're not working on a flat canvas and there's going
53:43
to be idiosyncrasies? Yeah, that's why I do that.
53:47
Like, you know, I just don't. I like to be prepared.
53:51
I love to go on a job that I'm prepared, that I have everything
53:54
I need. If I have to paint on a car,
53:56
like draw on the car, I can do that no problem.
54:00
But you have specific clients that they really want to see it
54:05
before it's on the car. So that's why I print paper
54:09
patterns. I do digital mock ups and that's
54:11
what I did for Vince. For Vince, I did the whole thing
54:15
not knowing again who Vince was. Lo and behold.
54:20
I got seriously clueless, but incredible guy I got there.
54:26
He was like literally super nice and amazing with me.
54:31
And I'm not saying that because now I know who he is or because
54:35
he really was like, he really put me at ease.
54:40
And and then I painted the Scuderia Shields for the Ferrari
54:46
Scuderia Shields numbers and his friend's car in a day and a
54:50
half. I was, you know, I, I had a day
54:54
and a half to finish the whole thing because then the car had
54:58
to be like, cleaned and taken, you know, somewhere else.
55:03
So yeah, that was. And then I found out that it was
55:06
the president of Pebble. And he's like, Oh my God, that
55:10
was very intimidating. But I'm happy that I didn't know
55:14
before. And you know, me, he, it was
55:17
more challenging to work with him because he's a he's a
55:21
perfectionist and that's why he's the president of Pebble.
55:24
And I had to step up like, you know, like even my, my painting
55:30
have to be spot on. So I'm actually really proud of
55:37
the Scuderia Shields I did on this car and even on Ryan's
55:41
Ferrari because they are how they're supposed to be.
55:47
You know, like there is literally like he took me to the
55:51
next level, if I have to be honest.
55:54
Like Vince Vinaldi took me to the next level.
55:56
Like, you know, he pushed me to be the best sign painter I could
56:00
possibly be. So I'm really happy about that,
56:03
You know, like I'm really very grateful, very grateful.
56:06
Is that your favorite so far of all the cars or is there another
56:10
one where you just say that's that's it?
56:11
Oh. My God, I don't think I have a
56:13
favorite because every car it's like now your.
56:16
Children. Yeah.
56:17
Yeah, I'm like, Oh my God, now I understand car owners.
56:21
I'm like, now I get it why you have 40 cars because they're all
56:24
incredibly amazing. But the latest car I painted on
56:28
was the Goldwing SL300, the one that got second in his category
56:33
of Apple from 1:00 one Escalante.
56:38
And you know, that car was insane.
56:41
That car was literally a labor of love.
56:47
They flew me to Wisconsin to paint it because the car it was
56:51
in Wisconsin because Meg and Chris that that that that you
56:55
restore, which is this incredible couple, the smartest
56:59
people you ever going to meet. Where in Wisconsin do you
57:03
recall? In she tech around Chetek last
57:09
skate. Oh, so that's like in the middle
57:11
of nowhere. In the middle of.
57:13
Nowhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
57:14
That's like the. Most beautiful middle of nowhere
57:17
you can possibly go to? Yeah.
57:19
OK, wow. Heels and green.
57:21
It's it literally, it felt like I was back in Italy in like the
57:27
heels in Bologna or in Tuscany. I was like what is this?
57:30
Place like wait a minute. Incredibly beautiful, but
57:34
literally in the middle of nowhere?
57:35
Sure, sure. From Minneapolis, like insane.
57:40
So I flew there and that's how like I painted the car there and
57:46
we became this incredible family.
57:49
Like the it's a team, it's a family now.
57:52
Like they're like seriously like like when I tell you like all
57:58
these amazing people, he's the best is that they really are
58:01
like they everyone pushes me to do better and better and better.
58:08
Chris the restorer, He like I work with them so closely that
58:14
he taught me which kind of additive were working way better
58:19
for my paint. Oh my God, after that, another
58:23
step like you know, I had from what I was doing before now the
58:29
consistency of my paint is really spot on.
58:32
You know, like it's incredibly awesome.
58:35
And I and that's because of him, you know, Juan, the owner of the
58:41
car just pushed me to do the best I could possibly do.
58:47
And that's why now we're all a family.
58:49
And that's why like if I have a question about a car or how to
58:53
restore that kind of like livery, I call him.
58:57
And because he knows a lot about cars and I'm like always need to
59:01
learn in order to be really good at what you do.
59:05
And also because you keep your job interesting if not right
59:10
after a little bit. I think that's one of the, I
59:12
think that's one of the greatest parts of the car world is there
59:16
are so many people, like you said, who are so generous with
59:19
their time and knowledge. And I've been very lucky to sort
59:22
of, you know, collect a few of those along my journey too.
59:25
And it's just, I think it really exemplifies the car community
59:29
because it's like a rising tide lifts all boats.
59:32
Like you said, everybody's encouraging everybody to level
59:35
up and like be the best and excel in what we're doing.
59:38
And it's just, it's such an amazing like feeling and
59:42
community. So I love hearing that.
59:45
I agree. It's just like, I think that it,
59:48
it, it keeps the job interesting and also like it gives you this
59:52
opportunity to have a great relationship with another person
59:58
and, and to really learn. Like I, I love to learn, I love
1:00:02
to do workshops, I love to do classes.
1:00:04
Like I love to learn from other people.
1:00:07
And that's why I even online on Instagram, I ask 5000 questions
1:00:11
to everyone because maybe I know how to do the same thing you're
1:00:15
doing, but maybe you're doing it in a different way.
1:00:18
And why not, you know, like it, it, it, it, it works both ways.
1:00:23
It's so it helps everyone if there is more knowledge out
1:00:27
there. So that's why I really liked
1:00:31
doing that. You said, you know, how many of
1:00:33
these people are amazing and the best and and it's really not an
1:00:36
exaggeration. You know, these people.
1:00:39
This is really rare air we're playing in here.
1:00:41
We're very, very fortunate, right.
1:00:43
There's a reason these people are the stewards of these
1:00:45
amazing cars. These are very smart people.
1:00:47
These are people who are passionate right for their their
1:00:49
hobby. I mean, these really are the
1:00:52
some of the neatest people in the world, right in this in this
1:00:55
world and and and now here you are.
1:00:57
We talked about this a lot, Lindsay, just how, you know,
1:00:59
some of the people that come on this show are so fortunate
1:01:03
because they're doing exactly what they were meant to do,
1:01:06
right? You, you have found your place
1:01:08
in this world. And so many people never get
1:01:10
that opportunity, right? They toil away in an office or a
1:01:13
factory or whatever. And here you are doing exactly
1:01:16
what what you're supposed to be doing.
1:01:18
And it's awesome. And I think you know how how
1:01:20
fortunate you are, right, that you found, found this world.
1:01:24
Yeah, yeah, I do. I like, I think that I'm
1:01:26
starting to realize now how incredibly lucky I am.
1:01:31
Sometimes I'm like, oh, I'm really lucky.
1:01:33
And sometimes I'm like, well, I worked so hard to get here.
1:01:38
That's right. And also like, you know, like I
1:01:40
remember a friend of mine, Francisco, like Cisco, who was
1:01:44
like, well, like I posted something like, oh, I'm so lucky
1:01:48
to do what I do. And he replied to my story like,
1:01:51
well, you deserve it. Like I saw you work like coming
1:01:55
from a store, working on from in a store and getting like, you
1:01:59
know, like to paint on cars. You're not lucky.
1:02:03
You've really worked so hard to get here and.
1:02:06
What? I said fortunate, not lucky.
1:02:08
Yeah, that's. Right.
1:02:10
I should stop saying lucky like fortunate is.
1:02:13
I think I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the
1:02:20
right time. But also I think that with Rod,
1:02:25
like what he told me at the beginning when we met, he was
1:02:28
like, I've been looking for sign painter for a year and a half.
1:02:31
People don't show up or show up late and I can't take that.
1:02:35
And I showed up before our, you know, the, the, the, the, the
1:02:40
time that he asked me to be there.
1:02:42
And I found that, you know, my sign painting teacher at that
1:02:46
literate tap dog Guthrie. He was like, if you're on time,
1:02:49
you're late. And that is like in like, you
1:02:52
know, in my brain every time I go somewhere, I'm like, I, I do
1:02:57
not like to be late and I do not like to be on time.
1:02:59
I always like, you know, like come like, you know, get to a
1:03:03
place like early. And that's why I think it's
1:03:08
like, it's not just fortune is not just luck.
1:03:12
It's like I showed up as a professional and because I'm a
1:03:17
woman, I need to do double the work, unfortunately, which is,
1:03:21
you know, at the same time, it's OK, whatever it is, you know,
1:03:25
whatever it takes. But if you, if you're a
1:03:29
professional and you show that you're a professional, people
1:03:32
take you seriously and you know, it's, it's, I think I found it
1:03:37
very, very, very important. And that's how why I have this
1:03:41
career that I absolutely love and that I'm having a lot of fun
1:03:46
with. So.
1:03:47
And I think you put yourself in a position where when
1:03:50
opportunities or introductions or associations like came
1:03:55
together for you that, like you said, catapulted you to the next
1:03:58
level, you were smart enough to say yes.
1:04:00
And like put yourself in a position to capitalize on it in
1:04:04
the, in the least, you know, in the most genuine way in terms of
1:04:08
like, I'm here to do the work and I'm willing to say yes.
1:04:12
And like you said, show up early and now you have this amazing
1:04:16
career. But yeah, it was not without
1:04:17
effort on your part. And I think that shows.
1:04:20
I agree. Totally agree with you.
1:04:22
And you've also been fortunate to live in two of, I think, my
1:04:25
favorite places, and I think Lindsay's yours too, in the US
1:04:29
and that's Southern California and Colorado and Boulder.
1:04:31
You know, how's that transition been?
1:04:34
Because both wonderful places, but it's a very different
1:04:36
lifestyle, isn't it? It is like I always wanted to
1:04:40
live in Colorado since I moved to Lai was like, OK, in a year
1:04:44
I'm moving to Colorado. I was moving every two years.
1:04:47
Like, I never lived like, you know, long enough in a place.
1:04:51
And, you know, in my 20s I was a snowboarder, so I lived in the
1:04:54
Alps, but I was traveling a lot. So I chased winter for like, so
1:04:58
long that LA was a good break because I need a summer.
1:05:02
Like, I was like, I can't take another winter, you know?
1:05:06
And then I met my husband. And then he's like, no, I'm not
1:05:09
moving. Like, But his best friend
1:05:12
Catherine, with her husband Jonas, live in Boulder.
1:05:16
And so we were coming to visit them really often.
1:05:19
And since the first time I went to Boulder, I was like, this is
1:05:23
where I want to live. I don't like big cities.
1:05:25
I want to live in a smaller city, but next to a big airport.
1:05:28
So then I can go back to my family and I can travel.
1:05:32
And then after COVID head, his company started to transition to
1:05:36
remote and now, you know, like he moved his old company here.
1:05:39
So we're like, OK, let's do it. It's great for our kids.
1:05:43
Our daughters are thriving in Boulder.
1:05:46
Nature is amazing here. But of course, most of my
1:05:49
clients are in LA. So what I did is like, I was
1:05:53
like, OK, I'm going to keep my studio in LA in Culver City.
1:05:57
So then, you know, I fly back and forth and then I'm going to
1:06:01
open my new studio in Boulder because I have now clients in
1:06:04
Boulder because the Colorado car scene is getting bigger and
1:06:08
bigger. So and also I have clients in
1:06:11
Michigan and Wisconsin on the East Coast.
1:06:14
Like I have clients everywhere and I'm like being in Colorado
1:06:19
is kind of easier to like, you know, if I have to travel other
1:06:22
places. So I, if I travel to Florida,
1:06:26
it's three hours. So I have, you know, clients in
1:06:29
Florida too. So 1 is in Florida.
1:06:32
So that's why we decided that it would be a good compromise for
1:06:35
me. Even if I travel a lot, I do
1:06:38
travel a lot. And it's, you know, it's not
1:06:42
always fun, but I think it's amazing that my daughters can
1:06:48
have this amazing lifestyle and I have this amazing lifestyle.
1:06:52
But then I, you know, here and there I travel, which is more
1:06:57
often than not, but, you know, yeah.
1:07:00
But it's looking out. It's looking out really well.
1:07:03
I love Boulder. I love Colorado.
1:07:05
I I love Colorado. So yeah.
1:07:08
Cool. What's next for you?
1:07:11
What's what haven't you done? You want to do?
1:07:15
I have lots of cars to paint, which is awesome.
1:07:20
Am I gonna, you know, like nowadays, I can't say sorry this
1:07:27
I can't say, but I'm. Gonna share about it next.
1:07:29
It's that good. Yeah, it's embargo that good?
1:07:33
That's right. No, I have lots of cars to
1:07:34
paint, which is amazing. And I'm gonna have a big mural
1:07:38
to paint in, in LA in October for an architect firm, which I'm
1:07:43
really excited about because you know, like, it's a good break.
1:07:47
And also like, I love to paint like large scale murals.
1:07:50
And it's super fun because I can't hire my friends And it's
1:07:53
like, it's like a team of five people and we have a blast.
1:07:57
So it's me, Leah, Nick, Wilmer and Katie.
1:08:03
And we love being with each other.
1:08:05
So that's going to be a blast. And then actually after, I don't
1:08:11
even know, like 21 years, 20 years, I started to paint again
1:08:17
for myself. So I started to like, I have
1:08:21
this studio in Colorado that I left a huge wall blank and
1:08:28
white, nothing on it, no art, nothing.
1:08:30
And I, I can just put my canvases on and finally I can
1:08:35
paint for myself. And it hasn't happened in so
1:08:39
long. And I am so happy that now I
1:08:43
can, I found the time for myself and I gave, you know, like I, I
1:08:48
took some space from and time from my projects just for me.
1:08:53
And I'm, I'm really excited about that.
1:08:56
I hope you know one day to have a gallery show, so watch out
1:09:02
because you know, I throw in the universe, so it's gonna happen.
1:09:05
There you go. Well, we'll be there.
1:09:07
You gotta let us know when it happens.
1:09:09
Yeah. Yeah.
1:09:11
But yeah, that's that's very exciting for me.
1:09:13
I think that I'm really looking forward to that.
1:09:16
And yeah, that's what I'm really looking forward to.
1:09:20
So I'm. Life is really happy.
1:09:22
That's amazing that you're doing that for yourself because it's,
1:09:25
I, I have a hobby that I recently, not that this is a
1:09:27
hobby for you, but in terms of like something that you enjoy in
1:09:31
your free time, that's not work. It's hard to find the time for
1:09:34
that with life. And like, unless you make it a
1:09:36
priority, it can fall by the wayside.
1:09:38
And I just picked something back up that I had forgotten how much
1:09:42
I enjoy doing it. And it's like, Oh my gosh, it's
1:09:44
such a breath of fresh air. So I love that and please do let
1:09:48
us know when you have your gallery show because I would
1:09:50
love to attend. Thank you.
1:09:52
Yeah, I agree with you. It's also as a self-employed
1:09:55
person, it's very hard not to work all the time and to be
1:09:59
like, oh, I'm taking two weeks just for myself.
1:10:03
I'm like, Oh my God. Like it's hard to.
1:10:05
Justify. Yeah, yeah.
1:10:07
But it's, I think it's like, like, like artists need that.
1:10:12
Like it's really like important for your mental health.
1:10:17
I am so precise all the time in my job, literally to the
1:10:22
millimeter that I need that escape to like be very free and
1:10:27
paint like super fairly nothing, no constrictions, no being
1:10:33
precise, no OCD won't be like, Oh my God, this is not a perfect
1:10:37
eye or a perfect E Like I I think that my brain really needs
1:10:42
it. And so I'm very proud of myself
1:10:45
for doing that. And it's not easy because it's
1:10:48
like I need to force myself to do it.
1:10:50
Not easy, but I see you and my next show, so there you go.
1:10:56
I love it. And will we see you at Fuel Fed
1:10:59
this weekend? This will go out on Friday the
1:11:00
28th. So right, last Sunday of every
1:11:04
month Fuel Fed and Boulder. It's going to be on the 30th in
1:11:07
the morning. What is it?
1:11:08
8 to 10 AM 8:00 to 10:30. That sounds right.
1:11:12
It's it's very early. It's very early.
1:11:14
We live in Denver, but yeah. I know, but I love it because my
1:11:18
brother from Italy is here so I can finally take him to one of
1:11:22
these events which he's gonna love.
1:11:25
And actually I'm taking my friend's kid which he never been
1:11:28
to 1 even if they lived in Bulgar the whole life.
1:11:31
So it's gonna be really fun and I always looking forward to
1:11:35
like, you know, Mike's event, so and Matt's.
1:11:38
Event so they're the best and and you know, and just to
1:11:41
reiterate what you said, we have, I think one of the best
1:11:44
car scenes in the country, if not the world, and it's only
1:11:47
getting better. You know, we have a you know,
1:11:49
things like fuel fed. We have the Colorado grand here.
1:11:51
So many of the best cars and best car people are here.
1:11:54
It's just we're very, very fortunate.
1:11:55
I think second only to to Southern California, but you
1:11:59
know, that's OK too. You know, that's the idea of
1:12:02
them too. Yeah, well, in the Southern
1:12:04
California car scene has been entrenched and developing for,
1:12:08
you know, so long. I mean, it's, it's just, it's
1:12:11
such a different animal. There's there's no competition,
1:12:14
you know, no, that's in a just kind of by the nature of of like
1:12:19
how long it's been developing. That's it, That's it.
1:12:23
No, it's the mothership for sure, right?
1:12:25
Yeah, exactly. All right.
1:12:27
Well, we want to be respectful of your time, Valentina, but we
1:12:30
really had fun talking with you tonight.
1:12:32
Thank you so much and would love to have you back on down.
1:12:35
Yeah, I had a blast. It was amazing.
1:12:38
Thank you so much, guys for having me.
1:12:40
This was like so awesome. So I'm really, really grateful.
1:12:44
Well, you were awesome, so talented and you know, it's been
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fun following your career and can't wait to see where you go.
1:12:52
But for people who are just hearing about you for the first
1:12:56
time, where can they find you online and on social media?
1:12:59
Valentina. They can find me on Instagram at
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Bruschetta Science and then on my website,
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bruschettascience.com. And that's it.
1:13:09
That's how everyone finds me on Instagram, which is awesome.
1:13:12
It works perfectly. Makes it easy, right?
1:13:16
Yes, very easy, yeah. Valentina Trentini, incredibly
1:13:22
talented artist and just good people.
1:13:24
Thank you for joining us on that car show tonight.
1:13:27
Yeah, we're so thrilled to have you.
1:13:29
It was great to meet you this way.
1:13:30
And I look forward to meeting you at Pebble next year.
1:13:33
But hopefully, you know, at the latest, but hopefully sooner
1:13:36
than that in person. But thank you again for joining
1:13:39
us and thank you to our listeners for joining us and
1:13:42
tuning in. We're so thrilled that you're
1:13:43
here. We appreciate you listening,
1:13:45
telling your enthusiast friends about us and of course leaving
1:13:48
five star reviews and we appreciate everybody just, you
1:13:51
know, spending some time with us every week.
1:13:52
So remember to always be driving.
1:13:55
We're that car show and we'll see you next week.