2008 Woodie Awards
An artist's vision on wheels
Artcar owners drive to make world 'a more beautiful place'
Nick DiMarco
Life | 4/13/08
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He drives an Artcar.
A man of many trades, including Santa Claus impersonator during Christmas time, Bladey considers himself to be a visionary artist and his cars are his canvases.
Following a car accident involving his daughter, freshman Margaret Bladey, and her Artcar, the Star Car, Bladey was parked outside of the Union Garage, Osler Drive entrance, waiting to pick her up.
He was driving an old GMC Sierra, transformed into half the story of Adam and Eve and half a winter wonderland scene. He dubbed it Magnet Car.
"It's not for personal attention; it's just to cheer people up…to make people smile is a wonderful feeling," Bladey said. "People stop. They wave. They honk. It makes the world a more beautiful place."
Bladey's Magnet Car features two full sized mannequin, Adam and Eve, affixed to the side panels of his truck's pick-up bed. He said he found Eve in Hampden and then had to buy Adam off of eBay. The hood of his truck is totally covered in Christmas decorations and figurines.
"There are lots of different patterns, lots of different stories, I'm a Santa in the winter, so I did the front hood in a winter design, so I consider this my sleigh," he said.
Bladey said he's been modifying his cars for about 20 years. He said it all began when someone put a bumper sticker on his old 1978 Dodge Omni and his creativity took over from there. He began covering his car in bumper stickers and then added sculptures, hubcaps, baby dolls, musical instruments and more.
"I just started covering it, more and more, it got worse and worse, and somebody said it was art. It changed my life," Bladey said.
His daughter's Dodge Neon, the Star Car, is covered in star stickers with a trombone attached to the roof.
His eccentricity has landed him in a chapter of Matt Lake's, "Weird Maryland," part of the "Weird U.S." book series that chronicles oddities around the nation.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Conrad
Conrad Bladey
posted 4/14/08 @ 4:29 PM EST
A clever photo and great article.
To visit the artcars stop by our studio this weekend
Saturday after 4 and Sunday after noon.
We will have the artcars on display including Margaret's Neon which has seen much progress after it was repaired. (Continued…)
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