First, can you tell us how you got started in speed painting and what exactly speed painting is?
I started in college. I played football in college and was looking for other things to do besides playing football and studying in a small school town in Kentucky. Drawing was always a hobby for me. I started hanging out with some local musicians and painted while they did their thing. It turned into speed painting – it just became this weird thing. It was like a performance art thing keeping up with them.
Over time, it took off. I saw speed painting before but I never thought to do it myself. I looked it up on Youtube to learn how, like everyone does these days. I worked at it every day – it was a natural growth. I got better at it over time and found my own style.
Who were some of the influences and mentors you had?
A guy in Sacramento – David Garibaldi, and Gerald Emerson – another guy in Sacramento – those two are the best in the game. I was inspired by both and Gerald helped mentor me. He’s come up to Pittsburgh a few times and I’ve sat down with him a few times – he gave me encouragement and told me when he thought things may be a bit off or showed me some new things to try. You don’t want to use too much of what others do – you want to stay unique and keep your own style.
You got hooked in to a lot of the Pittsburgh sports scene – how did that happen?
When I was leaving college in 2017 I hooked up with a charity that supported work done by former Pirates’ second baseman Josh Harrison and Cam Heyward. I reached out and told them I’d help out with their charity event with a speed-painting thing – five minutes later they responded with a yes.
I met a lot of the Pirates and Steelers players there. All the Pirates form then of course are gone and most of the Steelers of course are still around. The Pens were in the Stanley Cup finals then and the Penguins Foundation had me do some stuff for them too.
I was introduced to more charity event opportunities and players- then the Pens won the cup. It was like this perfect storm – I couldn’t believe it was happening.
Who were the first guys you worked with?
The first guy was Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams, which is sad because he was just DFA’d by the team. He was the first to commission something from me. He had me paint he and his wife and newborn after his first major league start. I did it from a viral clip of he and his father and wife sharing memories about their first start. I painted an image of that.
What have been some of the most interesting projects you’ve done?
The graffiti halo process with Haden and Conner – Diontae and Boswell – I did some cool things for guys like that. I loved the Haden project – that one stood out to me. We incorporated a lot of his life achievements and events into the background.
Benny Snell is extremely creative to work with too. I always love working on the more out-there projects – I have fun working with guys like that.
Sidney Crosby – working with him was amazing too. He commissioned two paintings. When Sid asks for something it’s the coolest thing in the world.
Why is working with him so cool?
Well, you watch guys every week play on the field and on the ice and we get to know them as players. But I’m lucky – I get to know them as people. It’s important to understand that they are people – more than just athletes. These are creative guys with real personalities.
James Taillon said something that always stood out to me. He told us I get to help guys express themselves as more than just athletes. That stuck with me.
Any guys that are most fun to work with?
Benny Snell – he can be pretty out-there sometimes. He’ll get some ideas and send me random texts. Once he asked me to paint him like Scarface – that was fun.
The funny things come in the moments when you’re talking about life and art. I find it hilarious that guys like Sidney Crosby could be interested in me. I don’t take that for granted.
Because I played footballI can have conversations with some of the guys. I can relate a bit to them – and joke about how I played in the NAIA while they played at Ohio State. When I talk about having one trainer in college, they get shocked – “Just one trainer for 195 guys?” I have to tell them no, it was one trainer for every athlete at my school!
Any last thoughts you want folks to know about?
A lot of what I do I get to do because of the encouragement I got from my grandfather. He gave me that drive and encouraged me to keep doing it. A lot of what I do is in his memory.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
