Musee Mechanique Woodcut Stamps

Copyright 2008 L Stowell. All Right Reserved.

Framed by the Golden Gate, the Musee Mechanique is every bit as much a golden treaure as the arches greeting the bay.  

This was a piece I created in 2008 after a trip to San Francisco and to the Musee Mechanique.  I turned several of the photos I took there into a series of old tyme woodcut looking "stamps".  This piece is a combination that I originally published on my old blog Breathing Thru My Eyes.

I love the uniqueness of the old Musee that was formerly located under the Cliffhouse...the peeling yellow paint on the building, the clapboard sign that stood in front of  it and the old hanging sign.  It had the feel of an older time.  The smell of the blowing salt air coming in from Ocean Beach and the taste of the salt water taffy from the little gift shop above took me back to the years that I spent playing in the Arcade at Playland.  Many of the the Musee's games came directly from there, others were from the Sutro Bathes and Museum, which is sadly now is nothing but ruins below the Cliffhouse.  I will be featuring many of the other photos and art pieces I have made from that trip in later blogs.

The piece was taken from individual photographs of each of the four machines...Laughing Sal, Grandma Fortune Teller, the Monkey Orchestra and Jolly Jack the Sailor (still very creepy to me!)  I used PhotoShop to drop the color to a black and white.  Next, I texturized the photos giving them the "woodcut" look.  I then took a photo from when I had passed in our car under one of the beams of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I split the photo, mirrored it and used it to create the framework around each of the "Stamps".

The relatively new location for the Musee is located at:

Pier 45 Shed A at the end of Taylor Street
Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco, CA 94133
Tel: (415) 346-2000

http://www.museemechanique.org

If you have never been there, it is definitely worth the trip...and make sure you take your camera!  There are so many things to photograph inside besides the machines.  The cases are handsomely decorated with woodcarvings and old brass work that deserve attention as well.  You are also located right at the north end of Fisherman's Wharf, which is an area that is so rich in photographic treasures it's unreal.  Make sure to pick up some ephemera from around the restaurants, aquatic museum and other places you can visit to add to your projects.  Have FUN!