CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) - Inspiration can show up anywhere.
“I was out on the road,” said Harold “Gene” Iames, an area folk artist who’s eclectic handmade ships are on display in downtown Cumberland. “I was waiting to get a load in, so I went over to this restaurant …
“I was sitting in there, and when he (waiter) served my food, and my coffee, he served my coffee with a wooden stick.”
When Iames worked as a truck driver for McLean Trucking Co. in the 1960s, he was waiting on a load of cargo and decided to grab a bite to eat at a truck stop when he was served his coffee with a wooden stirring stick.
That changed everything.
“I said ’Hey, I can make something out of these things,’” said Iames. “That’s when I got started and the first thing I built was my tractor-trailer that I drove.”
Decades later, two of Iames’ masterpieces, ships built from a variety of craft sticks, are on display in the window of 56 N. Centre St.
The exhibit is part of the Allegany County Arts Council’s window display program, an initiative helping local artists gain exposure while adding to the downtown arts district.
“We are trying to make the place look artful and inviting,” said program manager Heidi Custer.
The arts council teamed up with the building’s owner, allowing Iames’ ship display while the building undergoes renovation. The display is one of several in the downtown area. Others are at the Schwarzenbach Building, Washington Street Library and the Culinaire Cafe.
“For years now,” said Custer. “there has been this budding artist community and I think Cumberland is a welcoming place for the arts. So getting it out there in public view I think is important to continue that.”
To build a ship, Iames first cuts out the frame from a styrofoam block. He then covers the frame with craft sticks, attaches the mast and sails and finishes the structure by gluing crushed up pine cones to the side of the vessel.
“You won’t believe it when you see it,” said Iames. “I’m not bragging at all, you will never in this world see a boat like this one.”
Iames’ vision for the ship he calls Noah’s Ark came from an old movie titled “Mysterious Island.” In the 1961 motion picture, characters find themselves on a lost island overrun by dinosaurs.
The ship has dinosaurs, furnishings and golden dinosaur eggs.
Iames has built dozens of stick pieces, including trucks, trains, ships and an award winning dollhouse.
“That (dollhouse) was my best,” he said.
In 1992, Iames won first place and $2,000 at the Baltimore Convention Center during a dollhouse show. The piece, made from at least 10,000 coffee sticks, later sold for $3,000.
“I think it was worth it,” he said.
Before coffee sticks, Iames used discarded train yard lumber to build his creations. Iames grew up near Ridgeley, West Virginia and his father was a WMR blacksmith. Iames would collect old lumber to build skis, lawn ornaments and doorstops to earn extra money as a child.
“Everything I made I took into Ridgeley and sold as a kid,” he said.
Iames said he’s always used raw materials that are often overlooked by society at large and has transformed them into art.
“You have to enjoy what you’re doing to stay with it,” he said.
“And when somebody else enjoys it, I love it that much more.”
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Information from: Cumberland (Md.) Times-News, https://www.times-news.com/timesnew.html
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