Making Art Out of Old Bike Parts

I am sure many of you cyclists can relate to having a collection of old bike parts. It starts with bikes, stems, then old saddles, shoes and helmets. Soon you have stashes of what is a great memory to you, but looks like junk to someone else. Hey, you never know, it could become valuable! Since my husband Aaron has been riding for decades, he has quite the collection of bike parts.  

Recently while cleaning the garage, he dug out some old bike forks and suggested that I make art.

There was a pile of forks; 3 which were old carbon road forks and 2 Rock Shox mountain bike forks.  I'll eventually do something unique with the road forks but I decided to mount the mountain bike forks as a Christmas gift.

My technique involved scouting for a board to mount the forks on.  I had decided to find a weathered looking board. I spend a lot of time riding my mountain bike through the desert near our house where there are lots of unique finds as the washes will carry plants, boards and even garbage.  With the 1000-year rain storm we had a couple of months ago, the desert was loaded with wood.  One day while riding, I finally spotted what I thought was the perfect board.  I wasn't sure if I would use the board for this fork project yet, but I carried this 6ft piece home on my bike - somehow managing not to crash.  I then stashed the board in the garage so Aaron wouldn't find it.  

When I decided to use this board for the fork project, I cleaned it, let it dry and then sealed it with boiled linseed oil.  It stunk up the garage so Aaron did have suspicions that I was painting something. 

After the wood was set, I then had the challenge of figuring out how to mount the forks while trying to hide the mounting hardware.  I took several trips to the hardware store, walked the isles and even bought a few things I thought would work and ironically, I ended up using a simple metal corner piece and some screws to do the trick!  It was very simple yet gave the look I wanted as the forks seem to float on the rugged looking board.  Old forks and a weathered board.  Together they have a history of traveling through the rugged land.

Victory

'Victory' | Oil on Canvas |  4.5ft x 6ft

The story of this piece starts almost a year ago when a man by the name of Peter saw one of my paintings hanging up in my husband's bike fit studio at Faster.  "Who is the artist?" he asked.  "Me," I replied.  "No, I know you own it but who is the artist?" "It's me!"

After a few wonderful dinner meetings with Peter and his lovely wife Dena, we started a conversation and a plan on a vision he had for his hallway.  His hallway was not just any ordinary hallway - it was the 'bike hallway'.  All of his bikes would hang up on the wall after his rides.  If you are a cyclist, you understand the concept of keeping your bikes in the house.  First of all, they are valuable!  Second, bikes are pieces of art; 'functional' art.

Over the course of this past year, Peter's project has been a dream in itself - especially getting to work with someone who has an understanding and appreciation for art.

In art school, we were always given assignments in the form of concepts.  It was never, "draw a portrait", it was usually something to do with emotions and things that were not tangible. Peter came to me with a concept and a vision that at first, took me aback as I was overly impressed with his understanding of art. He literally sounded like he too had been to art school! 

The first piece, 'Victory' is the largest of the series of 3 that are in progress.  It was a challenge as it was my largest oil on canvas so I wanted to make sure everything would be of highest quality and as sturdy as possible due to the size.  

Before starting on the large piece, I created smaller sketches for Peter to critique and finally I came up with the sketch that caught his eye and had the final approval.  We definitely worked as a team on this painting as I would send him updates and also invite him to look at the painting in person as with the scale, it was a very different experience in person.  Just imagine seeing a mural on your iPhone and then standing next to that mural!   

The goal of this painting was to express the emotions and colors of victory.  As you can tell, even the guys who make the podium are terribly disappointed for not taking the victory!  Victory is won in such a split second, yet the rider can express so many emotions of everything they had done to get to that point.

I truly believe that paintings are expressions of dreams. You can imagine it, then see it to visualize it, and finally do it! It was bittersweet to see the painting leave my studio as I had a connection with this piece. Yet, I was so excited it would have the perfect home to hang boldly and hopefully inspire Peter every time he takes his bicycle out of the hallway and onto the road.

A Bicycle Masterpiece

One of the things that attracted me to cycling was the beauty and craftsmanship of the bicycle. Granted you see many bikes these days that are made in Asia, however there are still many companies out there that handcraft works of art.

The first day I met my husband Aaron (on my first ride with the University of Wyoming cycling team), I noticed he had such a sexy bike! It was like riding next to a Fararri! I was a little envious as I was so proud of just purchasing my first road bike, a carbon Trek off of eBay.  Aaron was riding a Tommasini that he had custom made while he had toured Europe by bike a few summer's before.  To make a long story short, we started dating and that same year I had applied to an art school in Florence Italy and was accepted! Aaron had convinced me to do a solo bike tour though Italy before starting my semester abroad.  As he is such a good sales guy - he also convinced me to go to the Tommasini factory, just as he had, and purchase a custom bike.  I was sold as I was able to take out a loan for school and add in the extra needed for this dream bike!

The Tommasini experience was priceless.  Aaron was there as his family just happened to have a vacation in Tuscany the same time I flew over to start my bike trip.  Walking into the Tommasini factory in Grosseto was like a combination of an old bike shop and a beautiful gallery! I knew nothing about bike parts so as we sat behind the desk as Barbara Tommasini (Irio's daughter) asked me which groupset and components to build the bike with, I would look at Aaron and say, "Will this make my bike cooler than yours?!" He would nod his head and respond, "Yes!" so I would add that part to the bike. I decided that if I was going to spend the money, I might as well get the best - and I ended up with all new Campi Record.  I also chose the color green because I love green.  They had never made a bike that was just green so they were very excited to see the results.  Then, I met with Irio Tommasini himself where he took some measurements to build the custom frame.  He did not speak any English but I could see his passion for each frame that was built.

First day with the NEW Tommasini in my Florence apartment in September 2005. What a beauty! 

The memory of getting the bike will always stick with me.  The day I took the 3 hour train ride from Florence to Grosseto, I remember walking in to see the most beautiful bike I had ever seen. It was a piece of art.  Irio Tommasini had a twinkle in his eye as he ran his hand along the top tube, kissed his fingers and exclaimed, "Bene!" He had touched the bike as if it were his masterpiece. I was speechless.  

Since then, I spent several years riding and racing my Tommasini. It was such a great bike!  Finally the Campi components started wearing out and it was time for a new bike.  

Still riding my Tommasini in 2008 when I spent a season racing in Europe. This is me riding near a gorge in southern France.

As this bike, along with Aaron's Tommasini has so much sentiment to us, we decided to strip the bike to the frame and hang the frames as art on our walls.

I had the idea of casting a hand and using that to mount the frames on the wall.  But I decided to get on google and see what was out there already.  I found some wooden hands that were used to hold surf boards.  Exactly what I was looking for!  But instead of buying the wooden hands, I decided to make my own version with some found objects in the house.

An extra set of wooden salad hands would do the trick!  I took a trip to the store and purchased a set of corner hardware.  Being mindful of the depth of the wood, I had to find screws that would not go through the other end.  

First I marked my holes, drilled and then screwed in the mounting hardware.  I then screwed the hands to the wall. Because I was just hanging a frame, the weight distribution only required 1 hand to hold the frame.  If the bike were complete with wheels, the weight distribution would require 2 mounts to hold it up.  

This was an easy and very economical way to mount our bikes as art on the wall!

Welcome to Bike Art by Melissa!

I just want to start off and thank you for visiting my site!  I will admit, after graduating from university with an art degree, I went through a phase without art. This was the first time in my life that I took a break from creating. I would say I got caught up on the excuse of transitioning into the real world, not having a full studio like you do in school with space, ventilation, tools, and assignments.  I neither wanted to think about art nor did I have any desire to create.  During this time, I went on a life journey in cycling, traveling to Europe to race with the pros, getting proposed to on a bike ride - and getting married, to traveling all over the US to race my bike.  Cycling became my life - but I realized that one very important ingredient was missing -  and that was Art.  

My first painting back after my 2+ year break was "Tandem Love."  This would become one of my favorite pieces.  We had a friend who was getting married and I couldn't figure out what to give as a wedding gift.  My husband Aaron looked at me and stated, "You can paint something."  I almost argued but gave in.  The piece really was an expression of love within our own marriage and a very important reunion with me and the brush.  Soon after, my parents sent me a new easel for Christmas, "Make the world a beautiful place," they said. I started painting more and more to give as gifts and my passion for art started growing.  Still, I was what you'd call a closet artist as very few people knew. "Who is the artist?!" they would say as they admired one of my paintings hanging in Aaron's office.  "Me."  "I know it's your's but who painted that?" They thought I misunderstood the question of artist vs. ownership.  "I did. I am the artist."

Finally, a move across the country from Boston to Phoenix changed things for me.  It brought me open spaces, more cycling adventures, but also room in our condo for me to spread out and create! 

So here we go!  I am finally coming back out of my closet and sharing with you my cycling inspired creations on my new site Bike Art By Melissa!  

I am an artist AND I love to ride my bicycle :)