Tag: cool stuff

Day 23:  From the moment I landed on Bobbi Mastrangelo's site I knew I had met a kindred spirit.  She calls her series of art pieces based on covers, "Grate Works".  Such a clever title for her body of work.  She's also been called a Cover Girl – the perfect moniker for an artist whose work focuses on all kinds of street hardware.  From our very first email exchange Bobbi asked for my address so she could send me a postcard book that documents many of her masterpieces.  She has been an amazing cheerleader for this blog project of mine, leaving kind comments for me and the guests, as well as sending me piles of information and encouraging words each day. I'm so excited to be sharing Bobbi and her artwork.  

Bobbi is a generous soul and has offered to send everyone interested a signed postcard.  Send me an email with your address and Bobbi will send you a postcard.  Even better, if you send her a self-addressed stamped envelope she will send you four signed postcards!  Write me and I will give you her address.  How cool is that?

  

 

Here's a description of her work, from her website: 

Bobbi Mastrangelo, The “Grate Artist”, is internationally known for her unique creations based on the theme of manhole covers. Deeply embossed prints on her hand-made paper transform the mundane iron covers into jewel like mandalas. Her tromp l'oeil sculpture relief works artistically capture the essence of utility covers in urban settings. Their appearance is so realistic that viewers wonder how she managed to put all that “weight “ up on the wall.

She is a mixed media artist like us – creating with several mediums in many sizes.  Bobbi makes one-of-a-kind sculptures, with a long list of distinguished collectors, and she creates affordable prints and reliefs too.  Incorporating paper casting, printmaking, sculpture, and paint – she is inventive, creative, and an environmental activist.  Her career began as an elementary school teacher but she eventually found her way to art-making and has been at it for thirty-seven years.  Bobbi's site is very extensive and there is a lot to see. Visit her site and her blog at BobbiMastranelo.com 

My favorite interview where I got a sense of her process and her passion is HERE, from 1997.

This piece is practically in my backyard – at the Zimmerli Museum where Fallon has classes at Rutgers.  Looks like a real cover doesn't it?  She nailed the metal, and the discolored area surrounding the cover, as we often see in the streets.

 

 

On Bobbi's site, she takes you through the process of creating some of her pieces, and the stories behind them.  I loved reading about this one, and how she problem solved the issues along the way, including the use of simulated moss and actual debris from her street to fill in the gaps.  Not only are her interpretations very real, there are minerals included to contribute to the deception.  See the full story of her submission to Orlando Museum of Art, "City of Orlando" HERE.

 

Showing the diversity in her use of materials, here is an embossed metal piece – love the color selection for the subject. She also has several works which have been hand-tooled from copper.   See those HERE.  And fiber!  She does textile work too.  Like many of us, Bobbi is curious about how to manipulate various resources to express herself, and learned techniques through the process of problem solving.

You can see more of her realistic presentation of covers we have become familiar with – water, sewer, coal.  She even replicates the glass light vaults.  The story behind Three Covers, and how they often became "bases" when a "city street turned into an asphalt field of dreams for kids", is HERE.

 

Bobbi makes pulp from scratch and creates paper castings, and prints are available of her originals.

 

 

Looking back through more than two dozen emails, I can't believe we've only known each other less than a month. Her enthusiasm for our shared obsession is genuine – which was evident through our correspondence, then confirmed with several phone calls.  I would love to tell you everything I've learned about her and her art but to be honest, her body of work is so extensive, and her involvement in exhibitions, and events like National Post Card Week, exhausts me just reading about it.  I will tell you one more thing – as I went on a research spree for this series I landed on many websites, forums, blogs…..and on many postings I would often see Bobbi as a commentor or as a link.  She gets around.  And she's an endless font of positive energy.  I encourage you to visit her site and poke around, then go back again.  And reach out to her – she is a true gem. BobbiMastrangelo.com

Thank you Bobbi for letting me share your talent, your passion, and most of all, thank you for being a "grate" friend.

Readers, don't forget:  a postcard from Bobbi awaits you.  Send me your address. 

GIVEAWAY:  Thanks to all who visited and left a comment.  The winner is Leslie Cefali!  How fun that she won as she's going to be featured as a guest reporter before the month is over.  *tosses confetti*

 

 

 

Day 22:  Earlier this month I found Louise.  Not sure how I landed on her site but it was clear I needed to reach out to her to be included in my series this month.  She's an amazing photographer and book artist and has such a clever mind.  She's an observer, an inventor, combining low and high tech with pristine and handsome results.

Please visit her site, HERE, and here blog HERE - you'll be delighted by her flipbooks (with terrific videos of them in action), and many more interactive-style books and decorative boxes. 

Of course my favorite are her City Shields.  Isn't that a genius title?  Here's how she describes them:  City Shields is a photographic documentation that takes the viewer on a walking journey through the urban streets of various Canadian, Scottish and American cities. This work collects souvenirs of travelled cities around the world using manhole covers to depict exploration of geographical locations along the artist's life journey.  It all started when a cover caught her eye while in Scotland – that was 1999, and she's been an enthusiast ever since – collecting and documenting from her native Canada, as well as parts of the US.

There are more than 50 sets completed!  That means she has traveled, searched, photographed, sized, printed, and cut numerous covers per set.  Whew!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  Clearly a labor of love.  You can get yourself a volume (or two or three) in her shop! 

Thanks Louise for allowing me to share your creativity – such an inspiration!

Louise Levergneux WEBSITE

Louise Levergneux BLOG

Louise Levergneux SHOP, click on books to find her City Shields and flipbooks.

 

LAST DAY TO ENTER FOR THE GIVEAWAY.  ENTER YOUR COMMENT ON DAY 15 HERE.  Drawing will be later tonight and I will announce the winner tomorrow.

Day 17:  I've never met Gabriele in real life but I know we'd be instant friends if we did.  She gets me.  I've recieved wonderful things from her in my mail box – the real kind.  Not long after I started this blog series she pops into my email-box with these two stunning covers.  Aren't they divine?  Here's what she said about them, "from Esslingen, near Stuttgart in the south of Germany".  They are very similar but if you inspect closely you'll see some differences.  So handsome.  THANK YOU Gabriele for surprising me with these photos, and showing us what you walk over in your corner of the world.

 

Here's a quick project you can made with the manhole cover stencils I showed you two days ago.  I used both chipboard and blank wooden coasters, but this same concept could be applied on paper, like in your journal.  I explain the steps in the graphic below. Super easy.  

First coat with gesso.  Then lay stencil/mask in place, and apply more gesso.  I scraped over the surface with an old credit card, then carefully lift off.  Since these stencils/masks are nice and thick the second layer of gesso will dry with dimension.  After it's completely dry, scrub on some Asphaltum glaze.  You can kind of push into the depth with your brush while pulling sideways to lift off some from the top.  The gesso will resist the glaze so don't rub off too much. Let it dry, then buff across the top with fine grit sandpaper to create greater contrast and reveal more of the dimensional shapes.  If you're going to use as coasters you will need to finish with a sealant, and maybe attach a circle of felt or cork to the bottom.

Stencils used: NYC Manhole Cover, Manhole Covers II, from The Ink Pad NYC, and Sunbursts MW-008 from Green Pepper Press (also sold at Stencil Girl Products as Circle 9 #L016 .

 

 

Have you seen the GIVEAWAY?  Visit HERE and leave your name in the comments to be entered in the drawing for manhole covers stencils on 10/22.

 

 

Day 12:  While doing visual research I came upon this driveway.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Isn't this stunning?  Of all the things I've discovered, this is one of my favorites.  The search started with google but linked to pinterest then tumblr then back to pinterest. Round and round I went searching for the original photo.  After a lot of clicking around I finally found my way to Ildiko Laszlo, an amazing photographer.  (check out the galleries on her site – love the botanicals and abstracts!) She has generously granted permission to allow me to share these with you.  Wonderful photos of a very cool project. The artist at this residence in California has constructed the driveway with stonework and found formed metal lids of all shapes from scrapyards, and the adjacent retaining walls are ornamented with tile, glass, and every kind of brick.  

I loved hearing that since this experience, Ildiko is also always looking out for interesting manhole covers.

Thank you Ildiko for sharing your talent with us today – a very impressive visual.

Visit Ildiko Laszlo on her site + blog HERE, and her Fotoblur pages HERE.  She can also be found on Instagram HERE.

 

Photos used with permission.

I'm so inspired by these photos.  I think I need to visit my art journal and see what happens.

p.s.  about the post title "driving over manhole covers", don't google it.  You'll come across a horror show of dash cam videos showing all kinds of mishaps caused by loose covers.  After seeing some of these clips I try to avoid driving over one – unless of course it's a beautiful driveway covered in them.

Day 9:  Now that we're thinking constantly about manholes, don't you wonder what's down there?  I've gotten a peek down a few as there always seems to be something going on under the streets of New York.  Some barricades and cones cordon off an area just beyond the sidewalk and you can see there is a metal ladder that leads into the darkness.

Just yesterday I was able to ask my father-in-law about what it was like to work down a manhole. He was with British Telecom and had to climb poles and descend the holes. He said there are special keys to open the hatch, then they would scale the ladder down about twenty feet.  When I asked if he wore a hard hat with a light on it he explained that they would use a generator to power lighting below the horizon to work on the cables.

Check this out.  Wouldn't you faint if suddenly this opened up and a guy walked out?  If you happen to visit Weisbaden, Germany, perhaps you can get on this underground tour.  I'm certain that this is not a typical inside view.  Pretty cool, don't you think?  More images HERE.

 

 

 

Makes me think of the scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang where they find the town children hiding under the castle.

 

I got to thinking about how many movie have scenes in the sewers…..did a quick search …there are more than a few…and found my way back to Bobbi, who wrote on her blog about a similar sewer in Vienna as seen in the movie The Third Man.  Bobbi's post: HERE. Scene from the movie (I admit, have never watched the film) HERE.

How fun would it be to take a sewer tour?  I've walked the canals of Birmingham, England, before they were cleaned up, then later when they were opened up and integrated as part of the city.  Not sure how I'd feel to be totally contained underground.

Has anyone gone on a sewer tour? 

Day 8:  More fine samples that show how vast the markings are on covers around the world.  These are from Nick Sherman.  In case you missed his introduction on Day 1, he has an album with over 800 photos and generously permitted me to share them.  Thanks again Nick, your collection is prolific.  See more HERE, you will be dizzy after the visit.

 

 

I mentioned earlier that I'm new to Instagram.  And I've discovered if you are skilled at adding hashtags, you will find other like-minded people.  Just to get you started:  #manhole  #manholecover  Some really cool people out there sharing their amazing finds.  I'm not sure if it's cool to post links to other folks accounts so just try the hashtags.  Before long you will find more than you ever expected.

 

Thanks again to Nick Sherman.

Day 7:  While doing visual research on manhole covers I quickly learned that there is so much learn and just as much to see.  One afternoon I ended up following several tangents and wound up focused on coal hole covers.  I clicked link after link and was not surprised when I landed at a favorite place, Spitalfields Life.  I'm a follower and get the posts via email, but had missed out on the specific posts I'm about to share as they were published before I discovered the blog.  When I wrote to The Gentle Author seeking permission to share his links and use his photos he very generously agreed.  "BE MY GUEST…I am your loyal servant, The Gentle Author".  Don't you love him already?

His post about covers is HERE.  But what prompted that, was a very cool article about commissioned Roundels – cast sculptural cover replacements by artist Keith Bowler. HERE.  (Seriously, go see.  Couldn't find a working link on the artist so this may be the only place you will discover his work.)

 

Other delicious articles that I've enjoyed by The Gentle Author: A Model Of London 1840s, The Wallpapers of Fournier Street.  Stop by – always an interesting read.  Thanks Gentle Author for being part of my blog series.

Some information on coal hole covers from Wikipedia HERE.  (Photo below borrowed from there.)  I never knew that the hatches were latched shut from the inside.  See?  So much to learn.

 

I found another guy from England who has taken many rubbings of coal covers.  I tried to see about getting his book but it is no longer available as it was part of a college project from seven years ago.  I found this page HERE where he includes a video (below) showing his work-in-progress.  When he wrote me to say I could post this, he told me about another video he made about collecting, and he mentions manhole/coal covers.  See that HERE (starts at about 7:50)  Cool!  Thanks Mark Simmonds.  (p.s. Mark, I have a Tesco's bag from 1984!)

 

SOME EXAMPLES OF COAL HOLE COVERS from MARK SIMMONDS on Vimeo.

 

In the next few days we are going to look at even more wonderful covers, from here and abroad, because I want to make the point of how diverse these things are – from the simple to the ornate – even though it's likely you don't need to be convinced as the images we've seen are proof enough. Yes? Then I'm going to introduce some artists and their connections to street hardware.  I will also have a few surprises.  If you've jumped on the bandwagon, or were already an enthusiast, and you want to share your photos, send them over and I'll be happy to include you this month.  My new friend Bobbi, who will be featured soon, says I should run this series every year. I'm thinking that would be great.  Or as Bobbi would say, grate.

See you tomorrow.

Day 5:  As you've seen in my previous posts I include all street hardware as part of manhole madness.  Sewer, storm, gas, electric, telephone, water and any other reason for having a piece of metal inserted into a street or sidewalk gets my attention.  If you're a die-hard manhole enthusiast you might not agree that water meters count.  I think they do.  In fact, learning about the famous New Orleans water meter covers got me looking down more often, especially while roaming the charming streets of the French Quarter.  The meter cover was manufactured by Ford Meter Box Company, Wabash, Indiana.  See the wikipedia page HERE.  Another informative article is HERE. My photo of the water meter cover in NOLA is first, followed by variants borrowed from the wikipedia page.  These aren't the only three types, but they are enough to prove that it's fun to observe the slight differences.  Want more? See Google.  

Perspective:  The meter covers are only about 12" wide.

 

 

You can't go into any souvenir store without seeing the crescent moon water meter marking on something.  Aprons, tshirts, potholders, shot glasses….  I scored a lovely charm from Sterling Silvia which hangs from my everyday necklace.  The coasters were a gift from my friend Katherine – love them.  I also left New Orleans with two Kabuki Hats – one is the beret below.  The ornament is from CopperFancy, available through Amazon.  The coasters were a gift from my friend Katherine – love them.  

 

More on manholes tomorrow!