Viseart, a conversation with Marlo Dipietro

Recently I was fortunite to have a long weekend and fish on the McCloud River. While hanging out at our campsite at Ah Di Na, a fellow fly-fisher was making the rounds sharing candy saying "trick or treat", it was Halloween! Also with him, under his arm, was a camera case that he opened. In the flickering light of our camp fire, he shared the bounty of his craft. That craft was making handmade fly-tying vises. To say the least they were stunning! I asked if he, Marlo Dipietro, would be interested in doing an informal discussion with me about his Vises for my blog. In the morning we met at his campsite and this is a synopsis of our conversation.

Alpenglow
What sort of metallurgy craft background did you develop before you began making these?

Marlo Dipietro
I started out real basic in a c-clamp style with the goal to make a custom vise for my tying needs. I never had tapped a hole in metal or used metal in projects. I had made a bunch of wood items up this time. Benches, tables and other small nick knacks.
After starting my third vise, learning from the two before, I wanted to use wood with a c-clamp style, to give it an old brace and bit type of look. Then I gobbled up any material I had to use and and would 2 or 3 at one time. These early ones are modern art looking, with acrylic and purple heart wood. Very out of the box looking.
I evolved to a point of adoring the metal and expanded that direction with a classic type floral style.
I always enjoyed engraved firearms and even as a kid I thought it was cool. So I studied that and began to learn the process.

AG.
looking at your vises they have an aesthetic that makes me think about a Victorian style. How did you develop the vernacular, or language?

MD.
I love building handles. I spend time chasing the possibilities of what it might look like and what I feel I might be able to complete
Furniture, firearms, themes art in general inspires me. An item can have great art as well as function. That’s the way things were made for centuries. CNC items are a cold snap shot on our societies tempo. It's really quite out of whack with the true nature of pure individualism.
To make a part I see a rough image in my mind and find a chunk of metal that will work. I execute the necessary machining and trim parts away. Hopefully the betterment of the whole. Sometimes not. I'll have to scrape the part and try again from another direction. Always looking for a balance and a statement at the same time. Some vises of late are spartan with and brief on purpose to shift gears abit. The less is more kinda thinking.

AG.
What do you do to pay the "bills".


MD.
I work at UPS, as driver in oak-town up around Rockridge to pay the bills. They cut into my vise time.

AG.
How long does the building of a unique vise take?

MD.
Right now I'm working on just one vise. In the past I would be juggling 3 at once. A series with similar construct.

I always seem to have several lined up for the future. Themes vises with marble, ebony and few hundred bucks of silver. They take some time to complete, all depending on how much free time I have and other stuff in my life. like a week of fishing at the Mc Cloud!

AG.
Vise 26 on your website almost seems like a crescendo of craft. You really feel that you have an exquisite handle on the language of, as you say "Florentine" adornment". The attention to detail and every part is considered. Have you spent time in Italy, Florence the birthplace of the Renaissance? What are your favorite European cities?

MD.
Both my parents are from Italy but I've never been. I've always freaked at Michelangelo and Rembrandt, those guys were the essence of versatility to me when art held a great value compared to today.

AG.
On your website, vise #33 the McCloud has a real turn of the century nautical sense, like maybe the vise Captain Nemo would use... your thoughts?

MD.
#33 is a theme vise using a ball and socket construct. It’s a dream to tie on. Many people see different thing when they look at it. It is one of my most mechanically pure and artistically balanced favorites. I see the mc cloud when I’m on it.
I’d like to think I can control all the elements of building one but faith in direction and purpose seem to have me on a leash and pull me forward.


see more of Marlo Dipietro's Vise art

Kobata 25/25

Swing'en in the nest.
25 on, Kobata style.
Wet as the fishes.

Sedge caddis flutter.
Swing and lift, tight tug.
A quarter found by my truck!

McCloud River, Emerald Cathedral 10-28-2012

Columns of light cascading,
Emerald green blue,
Dappled variants
Red bands splash.

Turning Dogwoods and Maple,
Willows
Oak
Fir
Cedar
Indian Rhubarb
Moss covered stone,
Tangled branches canopy, reaching.
We add filament and fly’s above, the diaries of our casts.

Sun climbs to zenith.
Canyon walls, a shaded envelop.
Fecund fresh,
this river cathedral.

Splashy rise,
of golden butter hues,
black and red freckles.
Your mighty tug.

Morning air crisp,
The mountains breathe, deep calm.
Even the Dippers are witness to the rivers truth.

Fire-ring tales,
dancing fish, lost fly’s,
Warming feet and soggy socks.
These old leaky waders.

Like minded friends,
Together trouting,
Like Aries and Triangulum,
except light years away.

Clouds parting.
Of volcanic legacy.
Under the Hunters moon.
Caddis flutter and entice.
This river of wonder.

October Shreders

These are going to shred! I'm getting ready for my annual hallowen trip to the Mac. This year i'm join friends of the GPFF club on the river and I really have focased on developing a true set of game changer flies for this river.
My go to caddis dry fly isn't neccesarily a dry but an emerger or spent caddis. I've had great success all over california with it. My R&D river of choice has been the A game Yuba River near Smartsville. hands down, these "Rainbow Trout" are as strong, witty and forceful as any Stealhead you'd meet and on top of it they all seem to have graduated with PHd's from an Ivy-league college.

Often sometimes I swear they seem to just want to humiliate you off the river. Fish seem to swirl flys just to see if there's line connected, often this is percieved by the fisherman as takes with no fish at the other end...
Anyways, these flys ive been tying for the Yuba have been specificaly targeted as Rhyacophila and Hydropsyche hatches. However for the McCloud I hybridized the patern to fit the Dicosmoecus syntax of Puppa and Emerger stages this fall on the "River Cathedral".

Yuba-Ku, Fall Caddis

Shits and giggles,
even the Osprey's paying dues.
Swing-en and drifting.

Twilights fading day.
Under the scorpius marker,
its Rainbows rise.

Soon,
Fish and I,
like Perigee.


The Steak and Eggs;

Yuba River, below island to Hammond Grove. lots of walking.
Hours fished: noon to 7pm
2 fish total: 1@18" 1@14"
Water temp 54 degrees, flow 1000cfs, air temp 80ish degrees.
Method: Dry fly, Spey cast swung wet flies.
Gear: 6wt 11 foot Bamboo spey rod 350 grain scandi line, 10 floating polyleader.
Sage 5wt 9 foot XP
Flies: Fall caddis emerger dry size 4 "Dr. Octo" and "Poison Spider", wet fly size 14
Observed insects, Caddis, Caddis and more Caddis. lots of Caddis.

Dr. Octo,    fall caddis emerger

Poison Spider,   caddis emerger wet fly

I'm Planning a trip to the McCloud River in a few weeks, and for "Shits and Giggles" I wanted to try some of my new Fall Caddis patterns. I had a good number of fish rise and hit the Dry but only hung onto one, and my wet fly only got one fish. A slow day until the very last two hours of the day. The four runs below the island, down river towards Hammond Grove was really pop'en with big fish until dark, especially by Rattlesnake Hill.

Scrap Wood?

What do you do with all that scrap wood someone asked me the other day. Well since exotic woods are becoming more and more expensive to buy as well as find i tend to save pieces that are big enough to make something out of. The past week i've been too busy to go fishing with my show in Denver of my sculpture and drawings. However being in my workshop and studio, being inspired by my friend Jim's landing net, i thought oh why not try and make yourself a nice landing net to go with your Bamboo rods? plus the experience in learning the craft will be a great excuse as well.
I settled in on a piece of Lace Wood for the handle, with Red birch and Wenge for the hoop. I took and old piece of ABS to make a quick steamer for the hoop strips and soaked them for two days in the heat.
i made a template for the handle and with the shaper quickly had the rough for that.
the next hurdle was the glueing form for the hoop. i came up with a shape and size i liked that would fit a Ghost netting from Brodin, that i bought from their on line store.
The next day i began forming the strips of Birch and Wenge around the form to pre dry them to the shape before gluing. after they were dry from setting in the sun, I took them off the form and started the glue up with Gorilla glue and lots of clamps.
While this was drying i sanded the handle with the horizontal sander to get the form in an almost finished state.
The following day i sanded the hoop to rid the dried glue and merged the handle then to the hoop on yet another form to help hold the clamps in place.
after this was dry i began the careful process of sanding the complete net frame into a finished form. next i need to router the thread groove around the outside of the hoop as well as drill the holes for the cord....

Cathedral Range Myth 9-8 to 9-18, 2012

9-8,9
Beneath Potter Point.
We, Mary and I,
plot along.

Along the trail,
Limber Pine shade our climb.
Two Kestrels call,
kiting high behind.

9-10,11
Perched above our camp.
Amelia Earhart,
sentinel of Ireland Lake.

Mourning Cloaks and Sliver Checkerspots.
Flutter and dance,
as we climb.

Spotted fishes,
red and blue spots irradesent.
Swim and rise,
evening caddis glow.

9-11,12
Evening Coyote call,
Scorpious rises,
like Evelyn's Sierra Steelhead.

Wool socks,
three days on the trail.
Ripe in the tent.

9-13,14
The bountiful basket,
Foxtail pines wave in the breeze.
Nestled aquatic hermit.

Range of the Lohaton.
Your speckled sides,
cathedral of granite and water.
Walls of talus your fortress.

Your myth our fortune.

Leopard of the lake.
Lying ambush in the depths,
ant, thread and feather, my fly.

Gliding within its Cirque,
Wings of dexterity.
Aquila chryaetos' watchful eye.

9-15
Last Columbine,
delicately burning white skyward.
Within talus slabs.

9-16
Orion low in the east.
New moon, shooting stars.
Fox tail pines, siluetted night.

9-17
Hiking here and there.
Lake to Lake.
Mary, me and the Clarks Nutcrackers.

Canyons and Peaks,
Granite of U-shaped grace.
Receded ice.

More Cathedral Range photos