Trip to Chicago & Phillies autographs

Two weeks ago I made my first ever trip to Chicago to meet up with James, my roommate from college.  My buddy Paul joined us as well on what was mostly a weekend tour of Chicago pubs. Amidst the late nights of drinking and debauchery we were fortunate enough to find time to attend a game at Wrigley Field.  The Cubs were to take on the Twins in inter-league play for the first time this year.  We had the full Wrigley experience, sat in the bleachers, drank cheap beer and watched the Cubs lose on what turned out to be a nice sunny day.  Being from Boston, Fenway is the closest frame of reference I have to the Northsider's park.  Visually, Wrigley reminded me alot of Fenway in the 80's and 90's when I was growing up, with very little on field advertising and a really old-time feel.  The crowd was great too.  The bleachers seemed to be taken over by Twins fans who had made the pilgrimage to the relatively close-by home of the Cubs.  They were a rowdy but good natured crowd, which is quite a contrast to what I was used to in Boston when regional rival New York comes to town.  All-in-all, I love Wrigley and loved Chicago.  I cant wait to go back.


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Kevin Houseworth, a Phillies fan and customer of mine recently wrote me and told me he had the fortune of having a few of my prints signed by Phillies players.  Apparently Utley, Rollins and Hamels all thought that the art was amongst the nicest pieces they had seen the entire day and actually asked where it could be purchased.  Really flattering to hear!  Take a look at the photos below, taken at the Phillies Phestival which is the Phillies annual ALS fundraier and pay no attention to the bucket of fries that Rollins has by him:


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I'm knee deep in my project with Topps which I now have more definitive details about.  I'm designing 30 semi-unique baseball cards due out in Topp's "Updates and Highlights" 2009 set, due out in October.  Each design will also be available as a limited edition screen-print by yours truly for sale on toppsonlinestore.com  This is a massive amount of work for me, but the promotion alone should be worth it.  

20% off until Fathers Day

Just a quick note for everyone shopping for a Father this year... skip the Tie and go with a Sports Propaganda print :)  Use Code 2727 for 20% off through Fathers Day.  I rarely put the work on sale, so if you've been considering purchasing a print, now may be the time.  Happy Fathers Day!

Expresso Beans Art Database

I wanted to mention a great website that I have known about for a while but have yet to share with customers/ fellow baseball fans.  The website www.expressobeans.com/ is a great art collectors resource to follow various artist's current work and also the value of the work (as sold on ebay).  You can actually follow the value of a particular print by all of tracking sales over the years.  The bulk of the art is similar to my own in regards to limited edition hand made prints (screen-prints, etchings, lithos, ect...).  I've recently added some of my own work on there to be part of the database.  Take a look here: Chris Speakman on Expresso Beans  

Take a look at it, you may find some work that you like.  Theres is alot of band related work, political, whimsical - all sortable and affordable.  Hope you like it!

Poll - Which player should i design next?

Last week I had offset posters made of my Johan Santana & David Wright designs at the request of the souvenir store in Citifield.  They purchased a few lots of them so you can buy them there, or online at my website here.  Also, I finished up the Ichiro and Chipper jones screen-prints last week, they are both editions of 250 and are available online at www.sportspropaganda.com.  See below for a step by step of the Chipper design:

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Last week I submitted two new designs to MLB for approval... Mariano Rivera as well as Hanely Ramirez.  I'll post a peek when I get a little closer to going to production with them.  In the meantime, I'm hoping to get started on a pretty large size project with Topps, the trading card company.  As soon as I get started and know the parameters of the project for sure, ill post something.  

Here in Boston baseball "season" is officially underway.  Since the Celtics and Bruins were knocked out of the playoffs within a few days of each other, all the focus is on the Sox and David Ortiz's .185 batting average.  Seriously folks, its June 1st tomorrow - this is a serious slump.  One thing about a slump like this is it now affects me a bit more directly than it ever did before.  I've noticed that a players short term performance can have an effect on sales of my art.  In contrast to Ortiz, my Jason Varitek print has been selling a faster pace than usual.  I do think it has something to do with him having a surprisingly productive year at the plate thus far.  Interestingly enough, the three Stadium prints I've done so far (Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley) have sold pretty steadily without a spike or dip.  In the end, I cant control the batting averages... just the quality of the art :)

I am considering which players to design next.  Typically I have to consider which players I've designed already and which teams have the most fan support.  I also look at contract length of each player.  If a players contract is up at the end of the year, it doesnt make alot of sense for me to invest the time and materials on him.  Once a player switches uniforms, the prints of them on their old team, not surprisingly become less desirable (see my Manny Ramirez design). 

 So in closing... I'm asking for your help... below is a link to my website where I put a poll where you can vote (mlb blogs doesnt allow HTML...  grrrrr).  If you have a write-in vote, put in the comments for this entry.  VOTE HERE!





Jimmy Rollins, South End Open Studios

I finished printing 2 prints this week, Jimmy Rollins & The Soriano/Lee/Ramirez Cubs design.  With a little help from my friends at The700level.com the word is out on the Phillies print.  See below for a layer by layer image of the print:
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Also, I met with Topps trading cards last week, and while nothing is finalized, the prospect of working with them on a couple of projects seems promising.  I'm working on some concepts for them now.  Also, there is a good chance that Sports Propaganda t-shirts may be in the works, again, nothing is finalized so I'll post when I know more.  

Next weekend is the "Open Studios" in the South End of Boston.  I'll be participating in this through the Michelle Willey gallery. I should be in the gallery all day on saturday, but the work will be there on sunday as well.  If you live anywhere near Boston, I would encourage you to get out and walk around the neighborhood to the various studios and see some art.  In my opinion, it is the best open studios in the city.  See the official website here: www.sowaartwalk.com  

I'll be headed to the Sox/Rays game this saturday, but the rest of the weekend I'm hoping to start printing the Chipper Jones design.  I'll post more soon!



Sports Propaganda T-shirts?

I'm looking to hook up with a MLB licensed t-shirt manufacturer who might be interested in creating a line of Sports Propaganda shirts. If you work for one or know somebody who does, please feel free to pass along my website  (www.sportspropaganda.com) and info to the powers that be.   In a related note, I'm always looking for team stores, and other merchandise vendors for my posters in particular (prints too).  I felt like I should put the word out there!
Thanks for your help on the business end of things.  

Ok back to artwork...  here is a preview of the new Chipper Jones and Ichiro prints.  Each being a limited edition of 250.  They are in the que behind the Rollins and the new Cubs print so it may be a month or so.
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Photos from the Michelle Willey Opening

The Michelle Willey South end art show "Sports Art and Propaganda" is now up and the opening was a resounding success.  There is nothing like the nerves you feel 15 minutes before an opening, while you hope... no pray that people show up - even if it is just your friends and family.  Nonetheless, The owners of the gallery did a wonderful job promoting the show and the opening reception turned out to be alot of fun.  I was honored to be a part of it.  If you live in the area please check it out - its a great opportunity to see the prints in person.  The show runs until the 24th of May and will be up during the South End open studios.  

Here are a couple of photos from the show as well as a clipping from the South End News today:

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Finally, yes, im STILL waiting on approval on the new Rollins and Cubs prints... (thats all I'll say on that).  Thanks for your patients.  Up next is Chipper Jones and Ichiro.  I'll post the previews in the next day or two.


Press mentions, Michelle Willey show

A couple of small press mentions regarding the Michelle Willey show this friday:

The Weekly Dig: http://www.weeklydig.com

The Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com

The baseball season is officially upon us and the buzz is strong around Boston.  I'm really excited to kick it off with the opening of my art show this Friday.  If you can make it - I would love to see you there!  

Friday, April 10th 6-8pm
Here is the invite:
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New Prints - Jeter, Santana, Wrigley

I've got three new prints that are printed up and available in the store area of my website: www.sportspropaganda.com/prints.html ...  Derek Jeter, Johan Santana and Wrigley Field.  Each is an edition of 250, printed on Stonehenge paper which archival and of really good quality.  

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Also in the pipeline are Jimmy Rollins and a Cubs print featuring Derek Lee, Soriano & Aramis Ramirez:

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I picked up my Red Sox tickets this past weekend which is always exciting.  Speaking of tickets, I'm planning on a weekend in Chicago June 12-13 and looking for 4 tickets to see the Cubs... if anybody knows where I can get a few without spending a fortune - please let me know!  Cheap seats will do.   I have never been to Wrigley and am really really excited to get there.  

Sports Propaganda is now on Twitter

I decided to use Twitter as a vehicle for quick updates about prints and general on-goings around the sports Propaganda studio.  

If you use twitter and have any interest check it out: http://twitter.com/Sports_Prop

I'm hoping to update it often.  


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