Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125666
National Riders Captured In Oils By Elaine Jones ..-"Southeast Is ----------. Mel Murphy, her hus bana Larry and their th ree childre n pose belore a group 01 exc lUne 011 pa inting s pict uring Nallo na l riders . Bernardino, and It hangs 10 his home today. Mter the reception given this second painting, Larry and Mel decided to take Clark's sugge stion and make the Impossible Dream possible. They reached for the sky and decided to do the top ten National Numbers and as a special tribute, Fred Nix. With Larry acting as technical advisor and leg man, they began. Into every dream a Uttle nightmare must fall and for Mel It was ' the sixty-five to eighty hours spent on eachportralt.Larry, still 10 there strong, had to find frames and mount all the portraits. Now after all this is done what do you do with eleven 011 paintings ? Larry and Mel, true to form, presented them to each rider and Mrs . Nix at the banquet dur10g Daytona Week. The Murphys now plan to reproduce the paintings and sell them to the public. Half the profits from the Fred Nixpaint- logs will be given to Mrs. Nix and the children. Before maklng the trip to Daytona, the Murphys had a showing at the Kings Inn, 10 Sun City. Thls 18 where It all comes out. Mels art teacher, Mr. Harry J. Zutto with a strlng of credentials as long as your arm, was at the show. He believes Mel 18 a genius but refuses to tell her. He feels her paintings are set apart by the use of vivid backgrounds, as they almost make the riders come off the canvas and run over you. Larry and Mel will live 10 Nas hvUle lhls summer, while they cover the National circuit. The choice of Nashvllle is more than a fluke, as Mel is try10g to turn another dream Into r eal ity . She writes songs and lyrics and w1ll try to have them publfshed, All but overlooked by the major motorcycle medla, except for the annual Daytona, Florida extravaganza, the South East United States has been 10cubating an enormous motorcycle enthusiasm over the past three years, says Charles . Clayton , President of Cycle News, Inc. "Registration figures don't tell the whole s tory," Clayton avers. Motorcycle sales 10 the Southeastern states are .ver y high and climbing, but most of the machlnes are strictly off-road bikes and don' t show up on registration lists." With the found1og of Dixie Cycle News, the third 10 his chain of local motorcycle newspapers, Clayton took up residence near Atlanta, Ga. s ome months ago and pr ofesses to be amazed by the large amount of motor cycle ractng Inter est 10 the Dixie s tates. "Our first issues ran fr om 24 to 32 pages and thatis 10credible for a new pubUcation jus t starting out. There' s that much going on," the publisher says. "For an area to deve lop so much motorcycle actiVity with only word-of-mouth publicity, it's a pretty good 1odication of the enthusiasm here. The Southeast is like a big Southern Callfornia as far as motorcycllng Is concerned. They have the cUmate here to ride all year around, and personal1ocome Is as high as anywhere 10 the country," Clayton potnts out. " The AMA National Championship road races at Talladega, Alabama and the International Motocross 10 Atlanta lhls year w1ll really put Dixie on the motorcycle map," he claims. "Thls area is the new mecca of motorcycling, Now that there's a biweekly newspaper for the Dixie s ta tes , the word is f10al ly out to the rest of the U.S." Concludes Clayton, "The South has rIsen agaInl" Robert. M. Law r: HIGHEST TRADE-IN 239 N. Anahe i m Blyd. Anahe im. Cal Phone (714) 533·1309 , Fits Specific . O DAKA, HO N DA, KAWASAKI AND YAMAHA MODELS. ~ • • 00 Penton - Hodaka Yamaha - BSA Husqvarna List P rice 58.95 Norton AVA ILABLE AT YOUR UWASAI' Headquarters BEACH C ITIES CYCLES '. * T~ HEAT·TREATED, STEEl, MOTOCROSS, SELF· CLEANING, ~ FOLDING PEGS. - ~ e, Next Motorcycle Mecca," Says Publisher How many of us have dreamed the Impossible Dream? The dream of someday dolng some great thing or belng someone famous. The Murphys are Uvlng their Impossible Dream, and lhls Is their story. Take one very attractive and talented gal named Melva, Mel for sbort.Addone husband named Larry, hooked on motorcycle racing, Blend well with seven years of marriage, and watch out as a dream Is about to happen. Mel Is an artist. Now, of course, anyone can paint, maybe only a wall, but paint, nevertheless. Mel creates. She takes an lllusion and turns It Into a reality. A reality we not-so-talented people can enjoy and understand. Thls afflnity for artistic creating has been with Mel most of her twenty-seven years but was only uncorked 10 the past two. And ntne lessons 10 oils gave Mel the necessary courage to make the start. At Chirstmas time, while we were fighting the .crowd to find that special gUt, Mel was sitting 10 her kitchen known as the studio - creating, with many doubts, her first portralt, Most portraits are done Uve with the subject sitting like stone in front of you. What does Mel tackle? Us10g photographs, she painted Bart Markel on his mach10e 10 a raclng stance. Thls is great if you're a mechanic, but Mel like most us gals knows where the throttle Is and hopefully the brakes. Larry was so pleased with the finished product that he urged his wlfe to do another one that could be given to Bart. Markel received the portrait at the Ascot 50 lapper and was thrUled with It. AMA official Tom Clark was also impressed and suggested they make reprints to sell commercially. Like most of us, they dido't lhlnk they could tackle such a project. Stuff llke that only happens 10 the movies and this is real llfe. A nice dream, buttor a while longer It was put back 1oto the slot marked daydream. But Mel wasn 't daydreamlng, She was painting up a storm and this time It was Johnny Cash. Like Barts, she presented It to him after a performance 10 San I ~ 525 N. EI Camino Real San Clemen Ie, Ca lilornia 014U92-6741 . Torsten Hallman Racing, Inc. W l Coast Dls L lor u PENTON Motorcycles Torsie n Hallma n specia l des len leathers & rac in e equipment U.s. Dlst. lor T rellebo re Moto-Cross IIru For dealer Inl o. write or ca ll 5345 T lmke n St., La Mesa , Cal. 92041 (714) 460-1402 . .ooooooooooooooo 1223 Ave. I La nea st .r C 05) 942-9624 I ~················iIt::······~~E·Eii~·~ii·j;E·il·ili~~ : .. : .. March 29, 1910 OPEN NOVICE: 1st D. Mackelprang - MAICO 2nd Paul Lass - MAl CO .. 4th .Edward Rea - MAICO " VINCE GRAVES & MAICO : _ : I Inc . Air Fa re C.II Assoc. 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