Stephen John Mittl Jr. 

The Painter

Artist Stephen John Mittl Jr. picked up a paintbrush for the first time in 2009 but admits, “It didn’t go very well.”

Chatting with street artist Martha Murphy outside New York City’s Museum of Modern Art in 2012 was the push Mittl needed to give painting another try after retiring from almost 25 years in international marketing. “She gave me the inspiration I needed to paint again,” Mittl recalls.

Three years and 55 paintings later, this Wyomissing resident is at the top of his game. He paints acrylic on canvas, specializing in non-representational art. He uses a variety of tools: brushes, tape, knives and squeegees – “whatever moves me,” he says.

Color is the key motivation behind Mittl’s paintings. He especially likes purples and oranges. “Seeing color combos anywhere usually gets me started,” he says. 

Mittl experiments with color palettes before painting on his final canvas inside his basement studio, where he has special lighting, a large painting table and a sink. He cranks up the tunes – his favorite being that of U.S. vocalist Krishna Das – and brings a white canvas to life.

“I hope people enjoy my paintings as much as I enjoy creating them,” he says of his art. “I hope it brings them some joy.”

Mittl’s favorite painting, Adlib, is on full display in the foyer to greet visitors to the Victorian home he shares with his wife and biggest supporter, Jill, who manages his Facebook page. The 48” x 36” painting features vibrant purples, yellows, gold, black and olive. “I think the colors and the style are great,” Mittl shares. “It came out just perfect.”

After finishing a painting, Mittl and his wife brainstorm for names, selecting “whatever makes sense,” he says. They recently began naming his paintings after song titles, including Emotional Rescue and Uptown Funk.

Mittl has shown and sold his work in public shows at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading and Studio B in Boyertown. He had his first solo exhibit, No Abstract Left Behind, in May at Reading’s Gallery Above Penn Square/Louis Long Gallery.

“I never dreamed I would show my art to anyone,” he confesses. “Over time, painting has turned into my passion. I’m having way too much fun. I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and paint.”

Mittl sells his artwork in select galleries and through his Facebook page. Look him up by searching his full name.

Brian Weaver

The Sculptor

Most people look at scrap metal and probably see junk. But when Shillington sculptor Brian Weaver looks at old metal pieces, he sees art in the making. 

Weaver transforms vintage metal objects, tools and machine parts into unique sculptures for lawns or home interiors. He scours yard sales, auctions and salvage yards to find just the right pieces – discovering the perfect shape or size to ignite his creativity. “I’ll see an object lying around, or I’ll see a certain shape, and an idea comes to me,” he says.

His ideas evolve into anything from animals, large and small – hummingbirds, dolphins, dogs, dragonflies – to sports signs and abstract art. He often likes to incorporate humor into his artwork, giving his subjects a slouched posture or a frozen-in-time pose. 

“I make unique pieces you can’t find anywhere else,” says Weaver, who operates Dreamweaver Iron Sculpting from a shop connected to his home. “I strive for different and unusual. People want something original that nobody else has.”

Weaver’s favorite one-of-a-kind sculpture sits in his front yard: a 6 -foot dragon made of heavy industrial links. He spent nearly 40 hours creating this masterpiece. He is currently working on another grand project: an elephant with a body made of a 55-gallon drum from a salvage yard, legs crafted with pipe and feet made of old carburetors he saved from a landfill.

For his pieces, Weaver aims for a rusty, vintage look, which he jokes “isn’t hard when you’re working with old and vintage pieces.” He enhances the primitive look by spraying his artwork with a coat of polyurethane. “It turns the rust color into a darker, rich and shiny color,” he adds.

Weaver has worked as a professional metal fabricator welder for nearly 30 years, learning to bend, manipulate and hammer flat steel into different shapes. Two years ago, friends asked him to tap into his creative side and make iron lawn sculptures.

“I like the creativity,” says Weaver, who has also done woodworking and cabinet-making in the past. “I also do it for the environmental benefits of recycling. People give me their junk all the time.”

With hundreds of sculptures inside and outside his home, Weaver is selling existing artwork to make room for new creations. He sells his art on Etsy; his Facebook page “Dreamweaver Iron Sculpting”; at Junk to Jazz, 2308 Lancaster Pike, Reading; and at Graybuck Gardens, 4372 Morgantown Rd., Mohnton.

Brian Blankenbiller

The Racer

Sinking Spring resident Brian Blankenbiller doesn’t hesitate to preach the mantra, “You only live once.”

Last summer at age 47, Blankenbiller pursued his lifelong dream of racing cars after purchasing an Xcel Chassis Series 600 Modified dirt track race car.

“If I’m ever going to do this, I better do it now,” recalls Blankenbiller of his decision to begin racing halfway through the 2014 season. “I only have one chance in this life. People will ask me, ‘Are you going through a mid-life crisis?’ Well, of course I am,” he laughs. 

Blankenbiller participated in 10 races last summer at Linda’s Speedway, Jonestown, and Shellhamer’s Speedway, Leesport. “Coming out of the pit and onto the race track is an adrenaline rush,” he says.

He remembers the excitement of his first race as he switched from spectator to driver. “There’s a major difference between sitting in the stands and sitting behind the wheel,” he explains. “Your butt is only four inches off the ground, and you go around a corner at 70 mph. It definitely gets your attention.” 

One of Blankenbiller’s biggest fans – his 26-year-old daughter Samantha, from Baltimore, cheered him on at eight of his 10 races last year. “That has meant more to me than anything I’ve done,” he beams. 

At the end of his rookie season, he placed 21st out of 36 in a time trial, beating “guys who have been racing for years.”

Wanting to be safer and faster in the 2015 season, Blankenbiller sold his first race car and his 1990 Corvette to purchase a new sprint car, featuring a yellow chassis, black and blue stripes, and the No. 211 (combination of his two children’s birthdays). The car’s hood features the words “Breakfast Club” and the names of the men in his Corvette Club – one of his five race sponsors.

Blankenbiller hopes to be in the Top 10 on a regular basis, but his ultimate goal is to win a race this season. “If all the stars align, and I start on the pole and stay in the front, then of course I want to win a race. If for some reason I don’t, I’ll still be fine with it. I’m just trying to be better than I was the week before.”

Blankenbiller discovered his love of racing as a child when his father took him to races at the Reading Fairgrounds. His passion for the sport – combined with his competitive drive and love for fixing cars – makes dirt track racing an ideal hobby for this full-time welding inspector. 

Elam Folk

The Collector

Inside the home of Elam Folk live hundreds of memories of yesteryear. Folk collects antique steel peddle cars and has nearly 150 of them stored on the second floor of his home. 

“If these peddle cars could talk – oh, the stories they would tell,” he grins. 

Folk’s vast peddle car collection evokes fond memories for many visitors to the collector’s home in Alsace Township, especially baby boomers.

“The cars bring back memories for people,” he shares. “They either had one in their family or knew another child in their neighborhood who had one. The fire engine with the ladder triggers the most memories for people.”

Folk collects restored, unrestored and completely original peddle cars from the 20s to the 60s. He has a variety of models – Falcon, Oldsmobile and Murray.

His favorite peddle car is a 1951 champagne-colored Studebaker worth $5,000. Although slightly used, the car is still in mint condition. “It’s an extremely rare piece,” he shares. “Less than 100 were made. I’m guessing a third of those still exist today.”  

For cars that require some TLC, Folk restores them to their former glory inside his business, Elam Folk’s Auto Body. He takes the cars apart, sand blasts them, and scrapes off paint and primer before re-assembling and airbrushing. “My work transferred right to the little cars,” adds Folk, of the connection between his hobby and his 33-year career in the auto body business.

He recently restored a peddle car from a ride at Carsonia Park, an amusement park that operated in Lower Alsace Township from 1896 to 1950. The car is now on display inside the Klinger’s on Carsonia restaurant in Reading.

A self-proclaimed antiques buff, Folk also owns an array of other vintage vehicles: nine full-size cars, 26 motorcycles, 30 scooters and a handful of tricycles. 

Folk’s passion for peddle cars began 33 years ago when his mother bought him a 1964 Falcon peddle car for his 25th birthday. “She knew I had a love for antique cars and thought a peddle car would be a neat present,” he recalls. “She was basically the one who got me started on this collection.”

Over the next three decades, Folk expanded his collection, finding cars at flea markets and antique shops. A car he purchased for $35 in Ocean City, Maryland, 25 years ago is worth $3,000 today.

When Folk eventually retires, he hopes to operate a small business restoring and selling his peddle cars.