Every Christmas I look back at the year and realize that I have it really good. I have a great family, my health, and wife that restrains herself from strangling me when I drag home rusted hulks of iron. Something about this particular time of year however, makes me realize that I really should be thankful for how easy I have it. So I try and do my part to give back. A few years ago I did a series of art pieces called “The Blueprint.” I got in contact with Ryan and he graciously allowed me to auction the #1 prints off here. With the far reaching nature of the HAMB, the auction got over 7500 looks, a great number of bids, and sold for a healthy sum of money, all of which was donated to a local charity for kids in need here in Detroit. This year, I’ve decided that the charity the full proceeds from this auction will go to will be the IRSF (The International Retts Foundation) in the name of Rachel Kopelman, who was the daughter of our family friend Sandy. Sandy does a lot locally to raise awareness about Retts, and after meeting some of the amazing people who have daughters with Retts, and seeing both how strong they are, and how much dedication they have, it’s an easy decision on my part to support them in their efforts. I pitched the idea to Ryan before leaving work today, and by the time I got home, I had “Lets do it.” in my in box, so a special thanks again to the man behind the curtains for giving me the forum to do this. The artwork: Since the first blueprint series was based on early hot rods, I thought it only fitting that I center this one around a trifecta of arguably some of the most iconic Mercs of our time. The theme here was in keeping with the 49-51 merc body, but having 3 examples of elegant, yet very different cars that represent the times and the craft. A 49, a 50 and a 51. A coupe, a “hardtop”, and a convertible. The series highlights the sometimes drastic changes that Hot Rodders and Customizers have on stock cars: What the folks at the original manufacturers saw, versus the vision of guys like us. "We Three Kings" -Full set of 3 Pieces -18"x24" each -Printed on heavy weight frame-able glossy stock. -Signed and numbered: NUMBER 1 of each. (Actual prints don't have the huge watermark that you see on these internet pictures) Auction Ends: 12/19/12 (three weeks from today, and enough time to get ‘em to ya by x-mas!) Once the auction is over, and payment made I will take care of shipping it wherever, worldwide. <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object cl***id="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->
These are superb! The most iconic Mercs of all time. Although I'd absolutely love this set, it's already (and was always going to be) above my means. They are well worth every cent for the high bidder.
I just walked away from a Robert Bateman print at the mall for a Christmas present for my wife. These are waaaaay nicer to me than any Robert Bateman. But, still, probably out of my league. The high bidder will get a bargain artwise, and this is a great thing you are doing.
There's something about the combination of blueprints and a great cause that I cant seem to deny...lets take it to $800.
Wow, the support has been awesome! Only one more day! We'll say 9pm, cali time for this to come to a close.
As it went past my comfort zone I went another way. I went to chris' website and purchased a set of his hotrod blueprints, then I just went to the IRSF website and made a small donation. The prints arrived today and are NICELY done. I CHALLENGE erveryone who gets out bid on this generous auction to do the same. Thanks chris for doing this and for the quick service shipping the prints. Later jim
Thanks Jim. Much appreciated. Well Folks it Looks like "lenmann" is the winner! Thanks to every one for the generous show of support. It's things like this that make the HAMB more of a community of good people than just some hot rod website. And again, a special thanks to Ryan for letting me do this. Len, your work is packed up and on it's way! As a side note, now that the auction is over, Like Jim mentioned above, I am selling these prints as well as my original blueprint set HERE. Any purchase made between now and Christmas day, i will donate 20% of it to the pot which i will send to the IRSF right after xmas. Chris Piscitelli
Man it ****s living on a Veterans Pension, I would loved to thrown some dollars at these prints. They are so very cool! Good work Lenmann!! Congratulations. Doc.
I picked these up at the Post Office late last week and they are amazing in person, incredible work Chris! Thanks for the opportunity to help with ISRF as well. Have a great 2013! Len
I'm glad ya dig them! Guess we can close this thread out. Thanks again to everyone who participated and supported this awesome cause.
Great job Chris and Len. Props to Ryan and the rest of the bidders to make this happen. Great stuff. Happy New Year to all.
The Jalopy Journal
