The other glass eye shop was painted yellow a decade or so ago and the paint is peeling off its cinderblock walls. This shop also has no sign out front. It doesn't need one. It has an Instagram account. This is where Mr. Zap is headquartered. He is one of the new breed of glass eye artists. He is gothic. He wears black lipstick.
Mr. Zap (not his real name) can make realistic glass eyes. He was trained by the best up in Chicago at Zimmerman Optical Prosthetics, a leader in the field for over eighty years.
Though classically trained, Mr. Zap is a creative type, less interested in imitating nature than he is in setting his imagination free. It is also easier to just make it up as one goes along.
Rather than working in glass, Mr. Zap works in PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), an acrylic compound that allows more flexibility in pupil design.
Mr. Zap works with one-eyed fashionistas. His pupils can be star-shaped, heart-shaped, fleur-de-lis-shaped. He does not limit his color pallet to blue, brown, and the occasional green. He uses all the colors in the Skittles rainbow. Some of his eyes have no pupils at all, they just consist of psychedelic tie dye patterns. Who needs pupils if there is no cornea, if the optic nerve ends in scar tissue?
Being a glass eye monger is a feast or famine business. It picks up in war time. Mr. Spinelli is hoping to get some bulk orders from Ukraine. Mr. Zap has set up an Etsy shop in Ukrainian. Though he doesn't speak Ukrainian himself, he knows someone who can translate.
Both gentlemen are well known to the eye clinics at the VA hospital on North Galvez Street. They have brochures and business cards in the waiting room.
I am only taking comments from paid subscribers in the future.
I'd like to see some of Mr.Zap's glass eyes!