The Squirly Whirly Art Car

Squirly Whirly — The Art Car That Saved My Life

There are two kinds of anti-depressants in this world: the kind in a prescription bottle, and the kind you glue to the hood of a car.

Squirly Whirly was born when Prozac tapped out and my spirit tapped in. Picture this: a bedraggled, brilliant, neurospicy woman, drowning in pain and paperwork, suddenly asking herself, “What if I just… glued a superhero squirrel to the front of my not so Hot Rod Lincoln, and drove it across America?”

Because sometimes ridiculous is the only reasonable response to despair.

So I did it. Garden-ornament squirrels. Mylar toy pinwheels—650 of them, spinning like a rainbow-metallic tornado at 65 miles per hour. Shift-shapes of color: purple years, pink years, a recycled-aluminum-can couture era featuring hand-painted masterpieces made by friends who understood that love is best expressed with glitter and E6000 glue, One Shot paint and Waterproof Industrial Grade Silicone, that only a true renegade art car artist would know.

Yes, pieces occasionally exploded off at 80 mph. Yes, people stared. And yes, the stares turned into grins. Their joy kept me alive. Every honk, every thumbs-up, every kid losing their mind in the backseat of their parent’s sedan—those were tiny stitches holding a very fragile human together.

Squirly Whirly wasn’t just an art car. It was a hilarious rolling defibrillator for my soul.

It even made it onto TV—a CBS show called Eye on the Bay. (If anyone has that footage, seriously—send help, and by “help,” I mean the video. It’s urgent. There might have been capes involved.)

Through depression, chronic pain, homelessness, and the kind of loneliness that erases hope, the Squirly Whirly Art Car said: “If you can’t find a reason to stay, then BE the reason someone else laughs today.”

So I drove. Across the western United States up into Washington, and there awesome weirdo’s that are super one of a kind too. Across the invisible fault lines of a heart trying very hard not to give up. These wild, rebellious, original, freaking awesome creative artists “ART CAR” friends gave me hope and helped me learn to accept my “Outside the box-ness”.

And you know what?

It worked.
One smile at a time.
One ridiculous squirrel at a time.

That’s the story of Squirly Whirly:
An art car that became a lifeline.
Proof that humor is holy.
And evidence that sometimes the angels who save us come disguised as lawn ornaments.

With Love, Music, Food, Art & Fun,

Tré Taylor & Bleep the tattoo.