About the Cover - Edition #3

Jan/Feb 2019 edition
Issue #3 AutoMobilia Resource Magazine
Michael Furman - Cover Photographer

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As a young kid, I worked for my dad who had a number of delivery trucks kept in an old garage building.  This was back in the 1960s, and typical for a situation like that, there were countless old automotive artifacts, from a 1953 girlie calendar to oil cans, rags, broken jacks and plenty of lighting fixtures without working bulbs.

The thought of this damp, musty space causes memories to flood back – the smell of overflowed gas streaking down the sides of the gas pump, the slick spots on the floor – now is that coolant, oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid or black cherry soda – all reminding me of the wretched Econoline Van with the 3-on-the-tree, on which I learned to drive a manual shift.

​There’s a can of Simoniz in some state of disrepair, but I’m sure it was never used on the Econoline.  There were a number of 1-quart oil cans, most with their tops cut off – some filled with nuts and bolts, another filled with nails, and a few of them with the tops punctured, and some undetermined amount of undefined liquid in them.

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It’s this trip down memory lane that drives a lot of collectors, most looking back to the days of their youth when we had less on our minds, and the future was filled with hope.

God, I do miss those days! Not that I would swap them for today’s Porsche with the new PDK transmission. Or all of the racing videos I can watch on my phone, while sitting in a hospital waiting room to get another scan or blood test.  But this is where Karen Shapiro comes in.

Karen is a ceramicist who sees art in details most of us have looked at for years, but never properly acknowledged. Her work forces us to think about the shades of color, and the unique typefaces that an artist/designer 70 years ago labored over for days. All to elevate a message beyond the simple, “this is wax” or “this is oil”, to “this wax and this oil are special, a cut above the others, that will make your engine run better, and your charming MG-TD shine like new”, or whatever tagline the ad guys forced him to use. The client was concerned with selling wax or oil. The designer was concerned with producing a memorable design that made a strong first impression. Who knew that these pieces would be cherished today?

LEFT: That small fuse in the bottom right is actual size.  The large one is a beautiful ceramic piece of artwork by Karen Shapiro!  Her scale is ginormous!!!

Karen’s work is a poke in the eye. She glorifies the design of the original artist by magnifying it (in some instances by quite a lot) and forcing us to appreciate what was created on a can that sat on a shelf beside countless other cans, all of which silently screamed “look at ME!” The fact that each piece is instantly recognized is a measure of their success.  Much of Karen’s work is made to order, if you have something unique and personal, send her a picture, maybe she can help you relive your youth. Prices vary. Many are in the $1,600 range, but most importantly, every piece is wonderful.

Karen Shapiro’s outsized ceramic versions are reminders of the detritus that still litters the aging walls and dirt floors of our memories. Her versions never really rust or leak, but they are reminders of the ones that did. All they require is a gentle dusting from time to time to remind us of old cars and old friends, when everything was simpler. 

Thank-you, Karen.

Please visit WinfieldGallery.com to see more of Karen’s work.

Michael Furman

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