While the SHIBARMY marvels at Jack Storm’s fusion ShibPreme, Jack Storm is making a name for himself with Fusion NFTs. He has come a long way from his start as an artist focused on Studio production.

Jack Storms Beginnings

Jack Storms started his career as an artist later in life at age thirty. Before graduating from Plymouth State University with a BA in Art, Jack stumbled upon what would become his legacy. He found an artist combining dichroic glass (a glass that displays different colors in a different light) and lead crystal using cold fusion.

The gauntlet was thrown down as people told Jack what he wanted to do was impossible. His response to the challenge was a cold-working lathe he invented. The lathe allows him to sculpt and turn the glass like wood. Jack would become a trailblazer of glass art whose medium is cold glass. Glass that doesn’t ever see heat.

Cold Fusion Dichroic Glass Sculpting

Cold fusion sculpting is a process that involves etching the glass’s surface with gritty materials using a blaster or applying acid. The glass is hone through engraving, polishing, grinding, or cutting. The finished product is a stunning, multifaceted sculpture that rivals diamonds and would have Gollum tossing his precious.

The cold-glass process can take up to ten weeks for each sculpture. To date, only a handful of artists work in this medium. Jack starts with the sculpture’s core of lead crystal. He cuts, polishes, and laminates until it has a mirror-like reflection. The core’s cover is optical glass which creates rainbows of color reflected by light refraction. Storms often add minerals to create a more vibrant color.

Intense Color Fusion

Jack intensifies the color using copper. Silver, magnesium, and gold while layering dichroic glass through crystal. Then, adding layers and angles that catch and reflect the light and the light’s temperature. Each piece is handmade, and no two sculptures are the same.

The most amazing part of Jack Storms’s collection is you can upgrade. If you get bored with an item and want a more valuable piece, you can trade it for an upgrade. This lets Jack offer older sculptures at a discount and older sculptures as limited editions.

From Marvel to a Bat

In 2014, Stan Lee (of Marvel Comics fame) asked Jack to make two futuristic fantasy pieces for Guardians of the Galaxy. You see both in the movie’s first fifteen minutes, and one is seen again five minutes later. The Glass Spectrum is a visual reference to Marvel’s Comic Cube. The Tear Drop, a free-flowing sculpture, was a commission specifically made for the movie. Stan Lee’s reaction to the cold-fusion sculptures, like the pieces themselves, was priceless!

What do you have made to commemorate your three-thousandth hit? A dichroic bat-shaped sculpture. The bat made for Derek Jeter is a 1:1 ratio of his P72 Louisville Slugger bat. Jack had Robbie Bond (bat specialist) consult on the project to ensure the bat was authentic. The bat took eight weeks to make and was given to Derek at his celebrity golf tournament.

The First Cold Fusion NFTs

In 2021, Coinllectibles commissioned Jack to create a unique NFT that fused a physical NFT with the digital world. The Coinllectibles Fusion NFT is the only one of its kind. It was admittedly his most intricate piece. The sculpture’s core contains a scannable chip, so the work is not replicable.

ShibPreme NFT Collection

In an April 10^th Twitter post, Shibarium announced a collaboration involving Jack Storms, SHIB, Marcie, Pawaar, and Shytoshi. The announcement was a teaser for the ShibPreme NFT collection. The SHIBARMY marvels at Jack Storm’s fusion ShibPreme on launch day.

ShibPreme is a fusion of blockchain digital assets with physical objects. It is a first of its kind with Compound NFT Technology using the latest chip technology, near-field communication chips (NFC). These chips are in use in tap-to-pay debit and credit cards. Their use in ShibPreme NFTs safeguards ownership because you must have the NFT and its corresponding chip to prove you are its owner.

Cold fusion Levels

The cold-fusion NFTs were part of levels 3, 6, 7, and 9 in the ShibPreme launch. Level 3 launched Jack Storm’s hand-crafted jewelry token and its corresponding chip.

Level 6 was The Dorothy, a custom necklace worth $880.00. All the wearables created are unique, making them a distinctive collection. As with all Jack Storms NFTs, you must own the NFTs in level 5 to get the level 6 tokens.

Level 7 touted the Jack Storm custom watch as Shib Bling. As with most of Jack’s wearable tokens, this Eterneum Collection is customizable and swappable for an upgrade. True to ShibPreme requirements, you must own a level 6 NFT to acquire this.

Level 9 is the most expensive token, and you must own all the NFTS up to level 9 to qualify. The Cube is the ultimate Shibpreme NFT! It’s edges and angles arc light to display vibrant colors and sparkle! It is also a stepping-stone to level 10, where you have to own all 9 levels of NFTs and be one of the first five to do so to get a golden ticket!

Jack Fusions On

While the SHIBARMY marvels at Jack Storm’s fusion ShibPreme, Jack continues to create cold-fusion sculptures. There have been rumors of a second ShibPreme NFT collection. While this has not been confirmed, the glass art world awaits another Jack Storms original!

Welly PartnerSHIB Turns Up the Heat

 The Welly partnerSHIB turns up the heat one year after its initial collaboration. In February 2020, SHIB partnered with Welly, an Italian fast-food restaurant. In their video announcing the collaboration, SHIB touts, “Welly is bringing food to the blockchain.” Then flashes their new slogan, “I am Ryoshi, We Eat Welly.” The SHIB community will see 15% of the profits from the deal, with another 10% as part of the rewards program and burn.

Welly Concessions

Welly made concessions as part of the partnerSHIB, including rebranding using the Shiba Inu canine in their logo, a new menu, franchise options, and innovative marketing strategy. The ShibWelly collaboration is SHIBs first foray into the restaurant industry. The SHIB-themed fast-food restaurant is a SHIB community-backed project. Unfortunately, not all the SHIBARMY was on board with the partnership. SHIB saw a 2% drop over the next forty-eight hours.

A collaboration with Flynn McGarry, whiz kid chef, was announced the following month. McGarry, known for opening his NYC restaurant “Gem” at nineteen, would help Welly develop an “Incredible and Tasty “menu with Vegan options. The SHIBARMY welcomed him and seemed to be warming up to the new partnerSHIB.

Later that month, SHIB celebrated its second anniversary with a John Richmond fashion line of cutting-edge fashion and sneakers featuring the Shiba Inu logo and its canine mascot. The line was a success during 2022’s Milan Fashion Week and a Vogue cover story with Snoop Dog in the creator’s garb.

Welly NFT Launch

 The partnerSHiB tweets a preview of their new NFTs built on the Ethereum blockchain three months later. Their slogan, “Feeding People Thru Web3,” sums up ShibWelly’s goals. The collection offers 10,000 3-D character-based NFTs of the SHIB mascot in fun apparel, accessories, and Welly’s signature food offerings. The characters are fun and eclectic. The launch was done in three phases. The 3^rd phase was open to the public until the surplus was gone.

Currently, the 4271-character collection has 1115 owners. The floor price this afternoon was $490.59(0.29 ETH). Its total sales volume to date is $326,269.42 (193 ETH). It is the first NFT project with a real-life business connection allowing the NFTS and Welly to grow in tandem.

Extending its Ecosystem, Metaverse, and Inclusion

$SHIB has spent most of 2023 working on ecosystem payments. The SHIB/NOWpayments alliance allows SHIB holders to pay with $LEASH and $SHIB at businesses that offer Nowpayment as an option. Among the companies that take SHIB are Lamborghini Austin, Gucci, Porsche Towson, and Kandy Skulls Ink (Scotland), along with John Richmond, Sorbillo’s (pizza), and of course, Welly Locations.

Currently, there are four primary options to spend your SHIB,

• SHIB Wallet for P2P transactions
• BitPay Crypto Card for turning SHIB into cash
• Gift Cards purchased with SHIB
• Merchants that accept Shiba Inu

Their development of the SHIB Metaverse has been all over the internet, Twitter, and Discord. The beta launch at the SXSW was impressive and well-received. Previewing Hubs, optimization tools, and teasers for Rocket Pond Hub and a fly-over launch. They even threw a bone to the SHIBARMY for a partial launch date by the end of 2023.

Reaffirming their “efforts to build diversity in Web3 and metaverse, SHIB has a partnership with The International Women of Blockchain. The IWB is a DEI Web3 event empowering and honoring women in blockchain.

Welly Cooks in Dubai

When Stefano Gugl, Welly’s CEO, took to Twitter for feelers of the offshoot he wanted, he was adamant it was not a franchise. Dubai has been trying to expand its digital landscape through crypto-friendly legislation. Dubai embraced the possibility of a Welly offshoot to increase its transformation through technology and blockchain. As the Welly partnerSHIB turns up the heat, the partnership could expand growth for both.

What’s on the Menu for SHIBWelly Next

 The latest tweets hint at Welly locations in Paris, France, and Tokyo, Japan. A recent tweet showing Welly bags suggest packaging and slogan changes with a question to the community “What slogan do you recommend?” If you have a great slogan, follow this link and send it in!

With the WELLY NFT success, one would assume that this year will see a new collection or a launch of never-released NFTs. Since SHIB has taken on the Metaverse, we may see a SHIBwelly theme park as the Welly partnerSHIB turns up the heat!