Friday, September 30, 2011

New Schwinn bicycle art in the shop!

At last! I've been wanting to draw my bicycle for quite some time. It is near and dear to me and comes with a bit of back story. It took a little nudge on Twitter to send me in the right direction… and now I have a fun new print in the shop!


The story: I fell in love with this lovely red Schwinn bicycle on a road trip many years ago. I was in Seattle for an amazing stop that included Bumbershoot, thrifting and lots of coffee drinking. This red beauty was leaning against a chain-link fence at a Seattle flea market and I knew it had to be mine. I bought a cheap, rickety bicycle rack and hauled the dreamy Schwinn all over the U.S. on the back of my little Saturn — unloading it every time I had to get into the trunk.


This included a flat tire in the swamps of Louisiana that I was sure would end with me inside the belly of a large gator. Thankfully, it did not, though it did deter my plans to visit the Tabasco factory. The photo above is the only one I could find with the car and bike — it's a little hard to make out, but I know it's there. I stopped to take this picture because I couldn't believe it was snowing in Texas—or how desolate and depressed it seemed.

So I happily made it back to New York with the Schwinn. When I brought it in for a tune-up, the local shop was super excited about it and told me that the Magic Hat symbol on it meant it was made pre-1964 (I think that's the year?) because Schwinn stopped using that symbol after that.

I cane very close to selling my sweet bike before moving here to Michigan—a dear friend in New York I knew would truly appreciate it and really wanted it — but at the last minute, I couldn't go through with it. And so the Schwinn is still here with me and long overdue for a drawing dedicated to her.

4 comments:

  1. Love the illustration, love the story and love the color! I've been wanting to do an illustration of my bicycle too. She doesn't have a great story like yours but, she does have a cute name, Gigi. I didn't name her that was the name on the bike, but if you saw her I think you'd think it was fitting. :o) I finally printed out that recipe for the Pork Meatball Banh Mi. I can't wait to try it!

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  2. Did I tell you, I went to Bumbershoot this year (first time even though I live less than a mile away!) and it made me think of you! Loving the new prints!

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  3. Glad I came across your blog and Etsy site - love them! Happy Monday for me! Cheers Jay

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  4. Thanks so much, everyone!!

    Cheryl — can't wait to see Gigi!

    Katherine — so glad you had a chance to go tot Bumbershoot. It's definitely one of the best fesivals I've ever been to. I've been meaning to write you, too because Sam and I moved to Brighton in July and I wanted to pick your brain! I'll shoot you and email!

    Red Road — welcome, Jay! I'm so glad you found me, too! Happy rest of the week to you!

    Cheers,
    Nicole

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