artist profile
Article by PT Rothschild - Neighbors Magazine - Novemeber 2008
The following report began on the "scene" one night at Java Jo'z when I met a fellow new music lover named Kevin, the grandson to an airbrush artist named Ron Williamson who had painted on some of the General Lee's the famed Mopar ride of the "the Dukes of Hazzard" TV show. I knew right then that I had a 'story' to tell about a unique 'neighbor' and here it is.
On a side street not far from the heart of Winchester, CA, stands the homestead and shop of Ron Williamson, behind a signpost out front that reads, "Sign & Truck Lettering". Behind this modest advertising lives a grandfather who airbrushed no only some of General Lee's, but who also painted Green Hornet's car, the Adam West Batmobile, and the Ghostbusters ambulance.
"Dick Dean was the guy who originally did the General Lee's and he was my 'Hollywood connection' after he became aware of my work. He would get a quote from me for a project, then tell me I was too low. 'These studios have a lot of money so double your price', he told me. He was really a big-hearted guy", Ron said with a smile of reminiscence on his face.
I asked Ron, who will turn 60 in February, how he got started in airbrushing. "I've been doing this since high school and I always drew and lettered stuff (as a kid). I went to Los Angeles Trade Tech (school). When I got out, I worked in downtown LA for about 5 months then I got drafted (to got to Vietnam).
When I came back (to the States) the company had moved to New York. I couldn't find work (at airbrushing) because there was a certain stigma attached to it, so I did various odd jobs. I worked at an oil company in Long Beach for a while, then through S.E.A.T.A program I was hired by the City of Carson for the public works department, picking up trash along the highways. I talked to the 'right' people though and started doing the city's annual brochures, programs and pamphlets (on the side) which is what I was trained for.
After three years I became the City Artist and was their artist for ten years. We moved to Sage, where I stayed for 5 years before coming to Winchester in 1983. When asked why he came to Sage in the first place, another story unfolded. "Three different doctors had given my dad less than a year to live. He had heart problems and only a third of his heart actually worked. He was just an old Minnesota farm boy and I asked him if he would move out here. he came out and we drove around Sage. He said he would consider it if I would move with him (to Sage). So the next day when I had a bad day at work, we sold both our places in thirty days. You know, houses were selling fast in those days plus Carson was starting to get a little rough. Two brothers and a sister would up later moving out there with us."
I asked how long his dad lived after moving to Sage (CA). With a laugh, Ron said, '19 years! The first couple of years we all got dad expensive Christmas gifts but the third year we said, 'This year you're getting socks, dad'. He was a very religious Lutheran. I'd find him out in the yard roto-tilling, out of breath, turning blue, and bring him back to the house to rest. Two hours later he'd be right back at it. I wish I was half the man my father was. Folks called my parents 'Ozzie and Harriet' because when you came to our house you got cool aid and popcorn.
Dad passed away 7 years ago and a mom 5. Actually, "said the oldest of four kids of Norwegian descent, "I put 'Ozzie' and 'Harriet' on their headstones, "said Ron with another smile. Back on is professional life, "I had a shop in downtown Hemet for seven years but couldn't find help and was working seven days a week. On day I felt a tightness in my chest and said, enough of this. Since then I've been semi-retired, part time.
When Dick Dean moved to San Jacinto to retire, he couldn't quite, so he brought in work (to me). I've done choppers in Chopper Magazine and (big rigs) in Trucker Magazine. I did two panels for 'Jurassic Park' that gave me 2-1/2 seconds of fame," he chuckled. "I also hooked up with 3 PT Cruiser clubs (Hemet, Moreno Valley and Riverside) and that's where Val Kilmer saw my 'Tombstone' work on the back of a PT cruiser. They took a picture of him with the car and he auto graphed the picture. He said (that) he had seen other renditions (of him in the role) but he liked mine best."
Asked about the present, Ron said, "Some weeks are busy, but right now I am just finishing up painting the house, whew. The wife is out of town visiting the grandkids (in Arkansas)." We talked of a few other things but agreed on saving something for the sequel, to be shared over a VFW cocktail, meeting some of the locals and knocking back some 'Tecates' (his) and New Castles (mine). Maybe then I can convince him that he has filled his fathers shoes by becoming a unique neighbor, and a bit of a character himself. That's the true legacy of a son to a father.