| Click the picture for a larger view.
In 1974, Robert's son, Robert Jr., or Bobby, started to work
for the company. Like everyone else, he started as the brush washer
and gopher, learning the business from the bottom up. He married and
had four little boys of his own, so he, too, began to immerse himself in
the day to day operations of the business. Bobby had shown artistic
ability at a very early age and it wasn't long before he was custom mixing
colors and "improving" on the liturgical stencils that had been
passed down from generation to generation. He was naturally drawn to
Hans, and whenever the artist was working on a job, Bobby would spend
every opportunity to sit at his side, soaking up his teaching, and
observing the master at work. Often, the two of them could be found
perched on the scaffolding, discussing color or technique, long after
everyone else had gone home. It was during this period that Bobby
first realized that he had the talent to become a liturgical artist.
Hans was very giving of his knowledge and encouraged him to pursue this
dream.
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In the early 1980's, Hans retired and Robert, Sr. began to
contract with an artist by the name of Vittorio DiNovi, who worked out of
New York city. Vittorio and Bobby became fast friends and, as often
is the case with an older man and a young protégé, Vittorio enthusiastically
shared his knowledge and pushed Bobby to take his art to a higher
level. The two became inseparable, traveling together while on the
road or Vittorio staying at Bobby's home while doing jobs in or around
Scranton. They painted together all day on the job and then went
home and painted some more well into the night.
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In 1986, Robert, Sr. began to experiment with
semi-retirement. He did not want what had happened to him to happen
to his sons, so he began to ease himself out of the business while getting
them started, so there would be no interruption of work. In 1992,
Bobby took over sole ownership of the company. Since then, the
company has continued to flourish as the premier church decorating firm in
the area and Bobby has earned himself not only a reputation as a gifted
third generation church decorator, but he is also recognized as a bona
fide liturgical mural artist. As the new millennium comes in, the
company's future looks very bright, indeed.
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