Willie Mays Painting
 

When I was in high school, I used to look forward to art class at the end of the day. High school was generally a very stressful time for me, and art projects really helped me unwind and relax. Anyway, by the time I graduated I had a nice little portfolio of work. It was too nice to throw out, but I was headed into the Marine Corps, so I couldn't take it with me. Believe it or not, I completely forgot about that portfolio! Now, over 40 years later, my sister somehow found it and shipped it to me. This Willie Mays painted stood out, so I thought I would share it here. By the summer of 1977, I had a pretty decent collection of Topps and Bowman HOFer cards, including the Topps Willie Mays cards from '55 and '56. Since I liked the "sliding into base" action background from the '56 card and the varying shades of blue background on the Topps '55 card, I decided to incorporate both backgrounds into this art project. I'm just sharing, not looking to sell it.

Wow! that's impressive. nice work.

That is a great story for many reasons. Thanks for sharing and post some more pics of your work from HS.:)

That’s a really terrific story and a great piece.

Very cool! It's like you made your own custom card, the old fashioned way (before the days of photoshop). :) With the sentimental value that piece is a keeper.

":)you were good"

Thank you.
 

Hey, thanks, guys. Happy holidays! I actually did a bit more than toy around with making my own baseball cards; I did make my own baseball cards by creating this two-stage silkscreen print featuring pictures of the top players from cards I had in my collection. Some came from the '56 Topps set, the '58 Topps set, and the '64 Topps Giant cards set. I especially like the way Stan Musial and the bottom row of players came out. Overall, they all turned out to be rather crude, but at least recognizable.