Walking around Magazine Street in New Orleans I noticed Thomas Mann's Gallery I/O. He is a metal working artist and  jeweler that I have admired for many years. I believe I may have heard of him while I lived in Pennsylvania and he was just starting in Allentown.

He created the Techno.Romantic (TM) style, which looks great in steam punk themed outfits. This was, in my mind a great find to stumble on. I don't actively follow him, but the art and name together triggered some dream-like memory.

This would have been good enough for me, but the sales lady overheard me explaining to my companions that I was a fan and offered a tour of the shop. Yes please!
This is the stairway lamp.
She leads us through the shipping area, a narrow area with a counter and shipping materials that must be crossed to get to the stairway. Our guide is charged with all shipping duties. Upstairs is where the art and jewelery is created. It is the organized clutter of an artist's studio, with a large center table divided up into work stations. leading us to the front of the building, our guide announces that we are approaching his office, but that Mann is in Atlanta this weekend. His desk tells us all that this artist started before home computers and smart phones.
Dividers inside dividers. One look lets you know when the artist sits here he has what he needs at his fingertips. We also meet one of Mann's soft spoken craftsman who explains his craft as best we mere mortals can understand. This craftsman has worked for Mann steadily "forever" and seemed genuinely pleased to be there. 

I truly feel lucky to have had this experience. I find it bizarre that I am in such a music city and I keep stumbling on to artists that reflects my family steel-worker history. And I have a pin to jog my memory when I stumble on this artist in another 30 years. 

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