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Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’

Emerald Art Glass House

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Bob & Kim Zielinski built this amazing home cantilevered high above Pittsburgh’s city skyline. The 6,900-square-foot, five level structure floats above the South Side, the neighborhood where I grew up. Over the past 20 years it has been slowly gentrified to include a waterfront mall and blocks of night spots. Even though a mere skip away from the new developments, views from the Zielinski’s place harken the old neighborhood’s industrial roots. The living room window wall looks out over the South Side slopes, home to steel-working families and the Birmingham Bridge, made from salvaged parts of the historic Brady Street Bridge erected in 1896. For more Tony Cenicola photos of the home head over to the New York Times style section and check out An Industrial Strength House in Pittsburgh.

Tags: art, birmingham, brady, bridge, city, emerald, glass, house, Pittsburgh, side, south, street, view
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You Should Know…

Sunday, October 9th, 2011

You should know Carl “Dingbat” Smith. When Pittsburgh’s Crawford Grill was filled with pieces by local African American artists, his mixed media metal sculptures were among the finest works displayed. Dingbat’s most recognizable works were forms created with nails. The amazing sculptures took on color naturally. Each nail in each sculpture was chosen by Dingbat for its representation of a precise moment in the oxidation process. The obvious reference to make when speaking of Dingbat’s work is comparison to NKonde Nail Fetish crafted by the Boma people of African to bring harmony and weaken evil spirits. Discussing the creative process, Dingbat once said, “We are all born creative beings and it’s always a struggle to bring it out once we have to cope with the outside world.” Perhaps the sculptures offered him and the Hill District’s community of artists, a similar solace.

Tags: africa, artist, carl dingbat smith, crawford grill, hill district, nail art, Pittsburgh, Sculpture
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The Shape of Things to Come

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Things are taking shape and starting to come together rather serendipitously. I was dropping a donation of baby clothes off at the thrift shop around the corner from our house and there it was, standing behind me, filled with bad novels–this solid walnut bookshelf that fits perfectly in a nook of space next to the dining room window.

I planned a trip home for the Easter holiday and started checking out thrifting prospects about a week beforehand. Alcoa and Westinghouse, two big Knoll manufacturers, had headquarters in Pittsburgh in the 50′s through the 70′s. So, Pittsburgh’s a great place to find mid century Knoll. My dad and I picked up these vintage Bertoia chairs while I was there. They were white and in bad shape so off they went to Chesapeake Coating for an new finish. Wow. We couldn’t be happier. They did an excellent job and the price was more than fair. We just got the chairs back today and have fallen in love. Baby Maxwell on the other hand was not so happy. He fell in love with the screwdriver I was using to reassemble the chairs and suffered some separation anxiety.

There was a blip in all of this serendipity. I had to drive out to Ikea in College Park to get my hands on this 24″ diameter Brasa Pendant. The super size shade was out of stock in Baltimore and the 18″ diameter pendant was only available in white. This was my first time visiting the College Park Ikea and I will say that the section there is by far better than you’ll find here in Baltimore.

I returned from Ikea to find felicity hiding in the store room of my favorite vintage shop, Home Anthology–this walnut wall unit. Not teak, but walnut. Not full price, but bargain. Not a compromise, but loved equally by both spouses. Fi-ˈli-sə-tē. William thought that the tension rods were too short when we purchased the unit and he was correct. He went to home depot and swapped out the old metal threaded dowels for new longer ones. Voila. Now, we just have to focus on filling this long empty space against the wall. In the meantime, this weekend’s projects–shelve the books, lay down a rug, hang window shades, hang art.

Tags: asymmetrical book shelf, Baltimore, chesapeake coating, dining room library combo, home anthology, ikea brasa pendant, mid century wall unit, Pittsburgh, vintage bertoia chairs, walnut wall unit
Posted in Nesting | 4 Comments »

Trax On Wax

Monday, March 8th, 2010

How did I not know about Gary Gebler’s incredible collection. The retired Sam Goodie and Record and Tape Traders executive has been running his treasure trove of vintage vinyl, Trax On Wax, since last June. Trax has joined the row of unique music stores along the stretch of Frederick Road before Mellor Avenue in Catonsville. Gary told me that he began traveling up and down the coast gathering records for about a year before he opened shop. Great job, Gary. What a catalogue. I found three wax titles I had been searching for without even really digging.

That was within the first 15 minutes I spent in the shop. Yeah, as you can see above I scored Al Di Meola’s Elegant Gypsy, Chick Corea’s Circling In and Oscar Brown Jr.’s Sin and Soul. I came up empty on Eddie Jefferson’s Things are Getting Better. But, the Oscar Brown more than made up for it. Imagine if I could have burned an hour or two. Oh, and Gary’s knowledge is a bonus. Once he noticed me scooping up Mahavishnu Orchestra he let me know where to find all the Jaco and John Mclaughlin. That’s one of the things that makes vinyl so great–it sounds better and it brings better company. Imagine the kid peddling discs at Best Buy anticipating your fusion jazz needs. I never knew I could feel this way again. Shout out to Stedeford’s Records back home in Pittsburgh. You’ll find Trax on Wax at 709 Frederick Road.

Tags: Baltimore, catonsville, collectible, Gary Gebler, Jazz, LP's, Pittsburgh, Record and Tape Traders, record shop, Sam Goodie, Stedeford's Record Shop, Trax on Wax, used, vintage vinyl
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Photojournalist Teenie Harris

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Teenie Harris for the Pittsburgh Courier

The best advice I’ve received regarding filling your home with art–always buy things that hold some history for you. The photograph above is my very first art purchase– a Teenie Harris photograph taken of a line up at the Hill District police station in Pittsburgh, PA. My first job out of college was working in the classified section of the New Pittsburgh Courier, formerly the Pittsburgh Courier. The paper is America’s oldest black newspaper. Harris was a fellow Pittsburgher and took photos for the Courier from 1936-1975. The year Mr. Harris died, I interviewed him and sculptor Thad Mosley for a piece in the Pittsburgh City Paper. The two worked with one another at the Courier–Thad as a sportswriter and Teenie a photojournalist. So much of my life seemed to intersect with Teenie’s…we had mutual friends and I worked with some of his old Courier colleagues . He was a founding member of the Pittsburgh Crawford’s, a Hill District baseball team that my Uncle Ralph “Lefty” Mellix pitched with when they went to the Negro Leagues.

Two Friends, circa 1930′s

Teenie had no formal training but clearly had loads of talent. He was wonderfully warm and generous during our interview. He made me feel at home-showing me a picture of his beautiful wife and other photos of his family. When I asked Teenie if he would sign the photograph he’d taken of the police line up he did so gladly. Charmingly, Teenie commented that he stood amazed when people asked him for these signatures. Teenie’s work was propagated around the time of his death and his children fought a hard battle to keep the rights to his photos. The Courier hadn’t catalogued the mass of work Teenie left behind. The photo images here belong to the Carnegie Museum which is now undertaking the task. See the Documenting Our Past project by visiting the Carnegie’s website.

Posing Beauty, circa 1940's

Tags: black and white photography, black photojournalism, Carnegie Museum, Documenting Our Past Project, Pittsburgh, Self Taught Artists, teenie harris
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Thaddeus Mosley Studio/Home

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

I think that each of us has one particular home, that of a friend or relative, that shapes our aesthetic. From the first time I visited Thaddeus Mosley’s home I was in love with every bit of it. Last year, Pittsburgh museum The Mattress Factory put up an installation–Sculptor– which replicated his studio/home in the city’s historic North Side. Albeit irreducible, his sensibility is indeed captured in these make-believe rooms. The photos are from The Mattress Factory Flickr photostream.