Arts & Entertainment
Artist Turns T-Shirt Slinging Ice Cream Truck into New Career
'People always told me I should make this hobby into a real business,' Ferndale resident Chris Gorski said.
If the most awesome ice cream truck you’ve ever seen comes rolling down your street this spring, it’s probably not someone selling Flintstones Push-Ups or Choco Tacos. The person driving the tricked-out 1979 Chevy P10 step van slinging T-shirts donned with handmade designs is most likely Ferndale resident and artist Chris Gorski.
Last April, Gorski was laid off from his graphic artist position at an advertising firm after the company lost a major account with one of the Big Three. Gorski, 40, was suddenly unemployed. But, he said, he had an opportunity to finally take control of his talents as a graphic artist and he started his own company, DetroitGT.
“People always told me I should make this hobby into a real business,” he said. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I buy an old step van and sell T-shirts out of it like an ice cream truck?’”
The love of automobiles has run in the veins of the Gorski family line for generations and it was, in part, that love that drew him to a truck he found on Craigslist in Wisconsin the same month he was laid off.
At the time it was painted all black except for the wheels, which were bright red. Gorski said his grandfather used to paint all the wheels on his own cars the same bright red. He took this as a sign to get the vehicle. Gorski named the truck Leo after his grandfather and stores it in Ferndale along with another car of his, an aerodynamic white 1979 Corvette.
“I have the boxiest car they made in ’79 and I also have the swoopiest, the sexiest,” he said.
Gorski added a red stripe, white wall tires and a white roof then painted “Thread Sled” across it – slang terms that mean clothing and cars, respectively.
Leo has become instrumental in Gorski’s business; selling T-shirts with designs intended to inspire positive emotions about the city of Detroit where Gorski lived during his 20s. His favorite design features a car with three different colored panels that reads, “Detroit Keep It Together.” Gorski said he was inspired to create this shirt during the time of the Big Three bailout. He said he noticed with fresh eyes people using mismatched panels to repair body damage to their cars and the patchwork parts became symbolic to him.
“I saw people using any old fender, any old thing to keep (their car) on the road -- ‘til they can get back on the road or on to their next stage in life,” he said.
Gorski’s designs also include a Detroit Police Department shirt, the slogan “Say Nice Things About Detroit” (inspired by a 1970s local artist Emily Gail) and “Detroit Rock City,” among others. They are all printed on either American Apparel or Alternative Apparel clothing.
The shirts are on sale on his Etsy website, Love Child in Royal Oak, Rock on Main in Northville and soon at City Bird in Detroit. Gorski said he sold more from House of Chants in Ferndale than anywhere else. House of Chants, however, closed its doors last weekend.
Owner Linda Robbins, 45, said she’s sold Gorski’s designs for years and they’ve consistently sold well. “They’re Detroit shirts and people want something that represents the Detroit spirit,” she said. “I get calls asking for the ‘Say Nice Things’ shirt or the police shirt.”
Gorski said he and Leo will tour local art shows this year and will be at Autorama at the Cobo Convention Center Feb. 25-27 to exhibit Leo and sell shirts.
Gorski recently designed Leo shirts, too, including a “Li’l Leo” shirt for his younger supporters he met while selling shirts at last year’s Ferndale DIY festival. “Little kids loved the truck and wanted to take pictures with it,” he said.
It was then that Gorski realized he could reach out to the younger fan base with Leo in a different way. “I’m thinking about writing a children’s book about Leo,” he said. The overall theme would be to teach kids to take their talents and turn them into an entrepreneurship.
Then he retracted his original statement, “I’m not thinking about it. I’m going to do it,” he said.
