My good friend (and artist) George DeStefano surprised my wife and I for our wedding with the following present: a custom version of the NYC subway map!
It features electrical wire as the subway lines, and has a nail for every station in the system (used to support the wires). The base is a re-lacquered table top, the land masses are decoupage made of the NY Times, and additional details, such as the compass, are etched into the wood via wood burning.
If anyone is interested in a similar piece, the artist would love to talk. He can be reached at orlinn@mac.com
The full view gives a sense of its size:
This closeup of midtown shows the structure and composition:
Lower Manhattan:
The Bronx:
Brooklyn:
Queens:
Staten Island:
This side view gives you a sense of the depth of both the wood and the overlying map:
Compass Detail:
Terminus Detail:
Thanks George! It’s a great piece an we’ve had nothing but compliments since we hung it!