On the easel...

[GKreindler]

Thanks so much for the kind words, everybody!! I really appreciate them as always, especially for the women's baseball stuff. It's subject matter that I enjoy tackling, whether it's from the AAGPBL or other teams that sported women in the early 1900s.

I figured I'd show a few more of these badasses:


Jean Faut, 1949, 18" x 18"


Dorothy Maguire Chapman, 1946, 9" x 12"

The Jean Faut image was an absolute blast to paint, especially since the original photography was of such high quality. Plus, it had that great angle from below of her looking into the distance, giving it a heroic feel. For those unfamiliar with Jean, she was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the league. Some of her more impressive stats are pitching four no-hitters (two of which were perfect games), winning two pitching Triple Crowns; winning two Player of the Year awards; winning twenty games three times; winning two championships; and is the league's all-time leader in ERA. And believe me, there are a lot more. This painting ended up going to Jean's son.

Dorothy Maguire Chapman was no slouch either, as she was an all-star catcher on two championship teams (1943 Racine Belles, 1944 Milwaukee Chicks). Known for being tough as nails, part of her story inspired a scene in A League of Their Own, but less so anything play-related. The scene where Betty Spaghetti receives a telegram bringing news of her husband's death was partially based on Dorothy's experience--she had received a phone call before a game, informing her of the death of her husband Tom in Italy. Unlike Betty Spaghetti, she actually DID play that day. Oddly enough, he was discovered to be alive months later after a dog-tag mix-up. Like the Faut painting, this was commissioned by the ballplayer's family.

The images of both players came from a large scrapbook at the Louis Pettus Archives at Winthrop University. They have a bunch of great images in their archives that I've licensed recently in the hopes of making future paintings of these great ballplayers.

Anywho, hope y'all enjoy these!! Any comments, critiques, questions and rotten tomatos are always welcome.

Oh!! And the Satchel Paige giclée officially goes live and becomes available for purchase on Monday, July 7th! If you'd like to be added to the mailing list for more updates, fill in your info here.

Thanks, as always!!

Graig