Artist Nicholas Fullerton paints the edge of his car mandala as it is installed on Pennsylvania Street in Vallejo on Wednesday. The piece is part of an Obtainium Works effort to fill the block of Pennsylvania Street with art. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
What’s Victorian, whimsical, and rolls on wheels? It’s probably a steampunk masterpiece from Obtainium Works.
Operated by Shannon and Kathy O’Hare, the Vallejo studio on Pennsylvania Street is the birthplace of vehicles and art cars that travel to the Mad Hatter Parade, Mare Island and even Burning Man.
However, the O’Hares’ most recent project is much closer to home. On Wednesday, the giant question mark and exclamation mark sculpture outside their studio was joined by a new art installation on the block.
Artist and Obtainium Works crew member Nicholas Fullerton helped drill his new mural onto a neighboring fence, the first of many pieces to liven up the street.
“It brings interest to the area, but also art,” said Kathy. When the O’Hares saw this fence go up a few months ago, they knew they wanted to do something with it. It was only a matter of coordinating with artists and neighbors to ensure they could utilize the vacant space.
“We wanted to pay artists to do this project, so this is something that we’re funding ourselves,” said Kathy. “We want to be able to include a lot of other people in this project.”
As it continues to expand, the 700 block of Pennsylvania Street will feature a range of commissioned works from artists around the area.
“It’s more of a beautification project than it is anything else,” said Kathy. “The industrial part of town that we’re in, people aren’t as kind to the streets,” she said, hoping that it will draw people to the area and make it exciting for them.
The project is meant to be a temporary installation, but even so, the mural has exterior grade paint that can withstand the elements for up to five years. It also has a coating of anti-graffiti to ensure that any spray paint or tags can be washed off.
Fullerton’s painting is one of the many mediums that O’Hares hope to invite onto the street, with metal sculptures and possibly mosaic pieces in the works.
Despite being stationary, Fullerton’s painting still incorporates the core themes of Obtainium Works. The mandala — described by Shannon as post-apocalyptic — is made out of car grills with a unicyclist in the very center.
“The cyclist shows we’re getting back to our pedal-powered world,” said Kathy, explaining that it was important to have that signature steampunk quality.
Fullerton’s own interests are brought to life in the painting through the different car grills. He displayed a sheet of 1950s car grills from an auto parts shop which he referenced as his inspiration. “I wanted to reproduce them on a larger scale,” said Fullerton. “And I figured, since around here there’s a lot of car places, it went with the neighborhood.”
A lifelong artist, Fullerton has spent time working with nearly every art form. In the last four years he followed in his mother’s footsteps and took up painting, with this mural being his first.
“I’m still trying to figure out my style,” Fullerton said, who primarily uses oil based paints. “Before, I was into making sculptures out of junk and a lot of recycled artwork.”
Fullerton got his taste for working with materials as a carpenter. As he got older, he felt more drawn to doing “the art thing” which included a pivot into building acoustic guitars and even playing them as well. “I’ve always been into art,” Fullerton said.