Title : Ode to Columbus, c.2006
Artist : Rene Crigler
Medium : Acrylics on Carbon Fiber, with an automotive urethane clear-coat finish
Size : 30" x 52"
Price : $12,900

Description : This NASCAR Inspired piece pays homage to Columbus, IN, the hometown of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart as well as the artist Rene Crigler, and was created specifically for inclusion in the NASCAR Inspired exhibit at the Hickory Museum of Art, which ran April-Sept 2006 in Hickory NC.

Columbus is a town just south of Indianapolis, IN and is surrounded by farmland, primarily cornfields, as well as several dirt short tracks, where Tony got his start racing karts. Rene's father also raced karts at the same dirt track venues and is where she caught the racing 'bug' as a small child.

Rene is an artist and motorsports software consultant, currently living in Ashville NC, and this is the only motorsports piece she has done. Part of the concept of the piece was to work with individuals from the motorsports community in Indianapolis and use some of the same materials and processes used in producing race cars; the carbon fiber, vinyl stencil and the clear-coat finish.

While carbon fiber is a material used to build the entire Indycar chassis, in NASCAR it is used in the production of various aerodynamic components as well as in the cockpit (Seat, HANS device, etc.) A vinyl stencil was created to adhere to the carbon fiber to protect the material during the painting process, for those areas where the carbon fiber is exposed in the final piece. As the carbon fiber is porous and dark, each block of color was meticulously hand-painted by brush, 5-15 thin coats, in an effort to reduce the buildup of paint and eliminate brush strokes. The piece was then sprayed with an automotive urethane, which in racing terms is a clear-coat finish, thus giving the piece an automotive finish and protecting it from elements.

Special thanks to Mark One Composites and HMR, Inc (Hall's Motorsports Refinishing) for their contributions.

(This concept piece was the spring board for Rene's current work, the Pop Art Orchids on carbon fiber)