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From Zinc to Steel

JULY 18, 2019
The Print Making Years Now I know were my early etchings went, probably purchased from Mauro Graphics on Staten Island in or about 1976.All kidding aside my entire body of work all my prints from 1971 to 1985 were boxed up and put in storage on Staten island in 1985.And then sadly all my zinc etching plates were then stolen never to be found or returned. A tremendous amount of art a great personal loss for me, time however heals all and the art continues to evolve. If anyone out there has any early prints of mine they are now truly of value and worth. The next part of the artistic journey a purchase of a five thousand dollar “Repro Master”, stat camera 4’ x4’ and a fully loaded home made dark room photo paper trays of all sizes and a full size stat processor machine. A major device in the now distant and forgotten photomechanical age. All in the bedroom of my Staten Island apartment, I got to pay the bills! Black and white stats of high contrast art overnight anybody? (Artist: Staten Island N.Y. John Noble in his floating studio (1913–1983)
From Zinc to Steel all life comes to full circle I have always been a bit of an outsider and as I began my career employing fine art mediums in a very commercial art world. Zinc plates, etching press, and all zinc plates cut to size and delivered on time and printed on archer’s acid free paper (1978). The problem here was that fine art could simply not pay the bills. The clients wanted commercial art, so it was time to reinvent as I have done so many times in the ever-changing world of my long and amazing artistic journey. Now its all come full circle and instead of one dimension I now work in three dimensions and instead of zinc I now work in pure steel. But the best part is I do not have to read all those manuscripts anymore I can now write my own. As for my digital path that all began in (1990) with one of the first Mackintosh computers on Staten Island. Locked in my studio with a huge array of how to computer books a major self-taught and rather stressful experience but that is a story for another day.
This is a real blast from the past Found recently in a studio cleanup. In nineteen eighty-two I hung out with this very creative French writer for about six months. My friends all said another crazy French writer that has an over active imagination like yours professor. I liked his writing very much his name was Jules Verne and I illustrated three of his stories for this book. The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and War of the Worlds all illustrated with my hand-tinted color etchings. (The book publisher was the Franklin Library} Do people still read books today?
Robert Fulton AMERICAN INVENTOR and an amazing thinker, Fulton the son of Irish immigrants. Robert Fulton, (1765, Lancaster Pennsylvania [U.S.] died 1815, New York, New York), American inventor, engineer, and artist who brought steam boating from the experimental stage to commercial success. He also designed a system of inland waterways, and a submarine, and a steam warship. But few people know that Mr. Fulton actually went a bit further with his thinking here when Robert began his interest in hydrogen gas and his knowledge of boilers and steam powered engines. He conceived of a heavier then air ship that could fly into the heavens above. He actually made a protype of this design in August 12 1810 little else is known of this machine except that it was actually spotted on the banks of the Hudson River in 1818. This is the actual scale model protype of his “Flying Fulton Steam Boat” idea. In fact this scale model has been reported to have been be found in the basement of the John Noble Museum located in Staten Island New York. This is foreseeable given the fact that Robert Fulton was keenly aware of the lower New York harbor and bay as well as the Hudson River. And He also lived and worked in New York in his later years but alas this rumor is still unstained. Art from “A Re-Imagined World” the on going series “Work Boats” (Sculptures and Prints by artist Chris Spollen}
The Sir Edward Zeppelin 1924 shooting and location finding are very key to the final art presentation. Great care and time going into scouting out the perfect location and getting that right shot.
The Sir Edward Zeppelin 1924 Scale model proposed by the Embry Riddle Company This flying machine is a bit of an oddity in that it appears to be on first look a lighter than air zeppelin. But in fact it was a semi rigid canvas and wood zeppelin shaped flying machine. Inside its formed and stretched hard body were three large helium filled tanks, they supplied all the needed lift required for lighter than air flight. The real secret here are the two side mounted Royals’ Royce airplane engines. When both engines were fired up this zeppelin could average an aeronautical forward speed of over twenty-five knots. This machine was an aerodynamic speedster of its day and could carry two pilots and four passengers. This design was also experiential in that it was one of the first flying machines to use a set o rear exhaust turbo boosters. When the exhaust from the two side Royals Royce engines were rechanneled and refired it cold boost the forward speed of this machine by another five aero miles’ for a total speed of thirty miles and hour. This is a just a scale model of the concept project for this project its was found about ten years ago in Blackshear England in the now abounded early twenties Embry Riddle Company aircraft factory. Art from “A Re-Imagined World” the on going series ,from “Rocketships and Robots” (Sculptures and Prints by artist Chris Spollen}
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