Flying Over Time Collection

Clearing the Trees: 24" x 30", Mixed-Media on Masonite Board, 2011. Provenance: Original Collection; Florida Lindbergh Dinner at Fantasy of Flight; Challenger Space Center (Lindbergh Foundation Board).Provenance: Original Flying Over Time Art Collection. Created in 2011 directly under the mentorship of Professor Leandro Soto. Exhibited extensively alongside the original collection.

As the third completed painting in the Flying Over Time collection, Clearing the Trees holds profound developmental significance, executed directly under the watchful guidance of Professor Leandro Soto in 2011. The piece immortalizes the terrifying, fuel-heavy takeoff from Roosevelt Field. The silver monoplane dominates the center, laboring to gain altitude over a row of stark, crimson-ringed trees. Swirling atmospheric lines in violet and white echo Marc Chagall’s emotional skies, while the substrate itself—raw Masonite board—speaks to the unpretentious, material-focused ethos of Arte Povera. Ripping through the painted sky is an authentic fragment of The New York Herald, blaring the headline "LINDBERGH ARRIVES ON RECORD BREAKING FLIGHT." By physically embedding the Donald A. Hall Estate Archive into the rough Masonite, the artwork transcends traditional painting, becoming a sculptural assemblage in the direct lineage of Robert Rauschenberg.