As the cover hiding the
Harley Davidson motorcycle was lifted away, revealing the vehicle beneath, owner Curt Spaulding could only look at it in awe.
It wasn't the smooth lines of the bike that had his attention, but rather the custom artwork painted on it. Eagles soared. Men prayed. The flag at Iwo Jima was being raised by a crew of
United States Marines.
The motorcycle had been carefully disassembled and sent, piece by piece, to Champion-based
Raven Graphics where Steve Niemi helped his wife, Rachel, turn the bike into a mechanical memorial, dedicated to the USMC.
"Words can't describe the way I feel," Spaulding says after he had a chance to circle his new motorcycle at
Bald Eagle Harley Davidson in Marquette. "I'm speechless."
Within a moment he crossed the room, shaking Steve's hand, before enveloping Rachel in a giant hug. They all went back and looked over the bike, which had been reassembled by the Harley dealership. The images were black and white with just slight tints of color, giving it a striking look on the black Harley.
Spaulding, and the people who had come to see the bike unveiled, were simply amazed by the level of detail put into the artwork by Rachel.
"I'm so glad he likes it," she says. "This is the best part."
It's just the hours and minutes leading up to the unveiling that get to Rachel, who was seen pacing and breathing deeply before Spaulding arrived from his lower Michigan home in Garden City to see his Harley for the first time. He bought the bike, sight unseen, from Bald Eagle and asked them to disassemble it and send it to Raven Graphics.
"He didn't give us any perimeters, other than he wanted it to be a memorial bike and to feature the
Department of Corrections seal," says Steve. "Rachel, as always, did a great job."
The project spanned about a month and a half for Rachel, who works in a studio just outside of their home near Ishpeming. The sheer amount of work that goes into a custom motorcycle, snowmobile or similar project is nothing new to Rachel -- the bike for Spaulding marked her 81
st project.
"I love doing it," she says. It shows.
Memorial custom paint jobs are starting to become old hat for Rachel, too, though her first one was never meant to be such a monument.
Sgt. First Class Matthew Blaskowski was a member of the U.S. Army's airborne division. He loved his country. He loved his job. He loved his wife and his family. He loved motorcycles, too.
His parents hired Raven Graphics to paint his 2000 Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad with desert fatigue colors and with portraits of his life and memories of his time in the service -- especially his tours in Afghanistan. Matthew never had a chance to see the motorcycle. He was killed in September 2007 by a sniper's bullet.
In June 2008, his parents, Cheryl and Terry, came to Ishpeming to see the parts of the bike unveiled.
They were stunned. They cried. Most of it was tears of joy as they remembered their courageous son's life.
"It's him," whispered Terry as he knelt down to look at the gas tank. One side of it showed Matthew's marriage to Daniela Cadore, a young woman he met in Italy. The other side showed Matthew with bandages wrapped around his leg where he had taken a bullet while pulling a fellow soldier to safety -- a heroic act that placed a Silver Star on Matthew's chest.
That motorcycle has since been around the country. In fact, it just returned from a 1,000-mile road trip to Georgia and back to its home in lower Michigan.
"Sometimes it's like people forget about Afghanistan and what our soldiers are doing over there," Terry said. "When people see this motorcycle and the work Rachel has done, hopefully they ask questions and learn more about what is happening. That's the goal."
Rachel was nervous that day, too, though there was no need to be. She has since kept in touch with the Blaskowski family on a daily basis via
email and
Facebook.
About eight years ago when Steve bought Rachel her first airbrush and brought home a co-worker's snowmobile helmet to get painted, she never imagined she'd be creating bikes that would be memorials to young soldiers or entire branches of the military.
Now, she's proud to have such works of art traveling the highways and byways of the country.
"I'm getting in good with the military types," she laughs. "I'm just happy to be able to give them something they are proud of."
Rachel isn't about to stop, either. She consistently has inquiries about her work, and she's not shy about trying something new. Sitting in her workshop right now is a Microsoft Xbox 360 that she is custom painting to have a geisha on, as well as a custom controller to match. She's done cell phones in the past and mailboxes. She's even applied her talents to jet skis, golf clubs, golf carts and, yes, a toilet seat.
But for Raven Graphics, the specialty has clearly become custom motorized vehicles like motorcycles and snowmobiles.
Terry and Don Durley, the owners of Marquette's
Lagniappe restaurant, had a custom bike done, too. Theirs, known as the NOLA bike, features images from New Orleans across it. It's fitting, considering the Durleys brought their favorite Louisiana city back to Marquette in their New Orleans-themed eatery.
"Rachel incorporated everything I love about New Orleans into this bike," says Terry Durley, who came to see Spaulding's bike unveiled. "There were about 30 things I listed for her and I told her to get them in there in any way she could. I told her I wanted it to be classy, not gaudy. When we went over their house and unveiled it, it was overwhelming. It was perfect."
Spaulding agrees.
"It's everything I hoped it would be," he says of his own bike. "It's worth every penny, and more."
For Rachel and Steve Niemi, it's never been about the money though. It's about doing something they love and turning it into a piece of art that is loved by others. Beyond that, it's about making friends.
"With every project we do, we make a friend for life," says Steve. "That's always worth it."
That's why a dozen or so former and current customers of Steve and Rachel's were on hand to see Spaulding's bike unveiled. They were there to see his reaction, applaud the work and, most importantly, welcome him into the Raven Graphics clan -- one big, customized family.
Sam Eggleston is the managing editor of the U.P. Second Wave and a full-time freelance writer. He was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula.