Flight of Steel. Drawing on our interest in astronomy, the fate of the Valley's steel industry, rides in a friend's plane over the beautiful Trumbull county landscapes, and Leonardo's interest in flight, flying machines, and his theories on astronomy and visual effects, I have painted a scene of a Bessemer converter (steel processor) "burning out" on the darker left-hand side, with the sparks flying up and mingling with the stars in the sky. On the lighter (landscape) side I have painted my friend's plane and some of the views from the air, including the coke plant in Warren, OH. I overlaid quotes of Leonardo's observations on astronomy on the star field, and on those aerial perspective on the landscapes viewed from the plane. The plane emerges from the dark clouds of industry to a possible brighter day.
