Star Trek is more than just a show for me, I know it is fictional so not to worry I am well grounded in reality but Trek is a vision of the future that I subscribe too. The world that Gene Roddenberry created is one that has surpassed the frailties of greed and selfishness of today's world. The people of Earth 300 years from now live in peace, appreciate diversity and is a world where no one goes hungry or homeless. As such Star Trek represents my personal beliefs and aspirations for the future. I have been watching the show since September 1966, since day one. One of my favorite aspects of the show was the Enterprise and the technology within her. When I turned fifteen my grandmother purchased a set of Blueprints of the Enterprise. The blueprints showed every nook and cranny of the ship and opened my imagination. It was that set of drawings that convinced me that being an illustrator was what I wanted to be. So you could say Star Trek inspired my life in a more fundamental way. In 1987 Star Trek The Next Generation had debuted on TV and the world of Star Trek was re-born and in my mind the thought of getting involved in Star Trek was possible. In 1990 providence/fate and the opportunity presented itself or should I say himself. While sitting in the lobby of the Cadillac Fleetwood Plant waiting for and engineering meeting I happen to overhear a gentleman introduce himself to the receptionist in a way as if she should know who he was. It was notable illustrator David Kimble himself. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to meet this famous illustrator I walked up and introduced myself. I told him I was an illustrator with GM and that I had really enjoyed his work including most of all the Enterprise Poster! He asked if he could stop by my office the next day as he was headed to the GM Tech Centre where I worked and asked if he could see some of my work! Ha! My work! The next day he passed through and came to my desk causing a great deal of commotion in a room of highly trained illustrators...they all knew who he was and wondered why I was getting the visit... Long story short I ended up doing a lot of freelance automotive illustration for David and along the way he helped me make contacts with the Next Generation folks at Paramount and well the images below are the result! And not just Star Trek... Star Wars with Lucas Film came next...
