Art

^{A pair of Paul Schlossman’s works. At left is “The Kid” a shot of Ken Griffey Jr. At right, is “Blue Air” a shot of Michael Jordan.}

I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason.

During Events No. 31 and No. 32 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project, that took me to the upper midwest and the city of Fargo, ND, I had a few hours to kill on Monday before my flight home.

To while away a few hours, I chose to visit the West Acres Mall (rocking, by the way!) and the Roger Maris Museum display included within. I noticed a trading card shop listed as a tenant downstairs (JWW Sports Cards & Gaming), so I wandered down to check it out.

Near the entrance was a display dedicated to a local photo artist, Paul Schlossman.

I was fascinated!

Paul takes his old Starting Lineup and McFarlane sports figurines outside to create some iconic imagery of these figurines that required double-takes to ensure I wasn’t actually looking at Michael Jordan or Ken Griffey Jr. or Serena Williams.

I found Paul’s website and submitted a contact request.

We eventually connected and the resulting Conversation is here for your listening enjoyment this week.

^{My Conversation with Paul Schlossman.}

^{Artist Matt Speck with PIttsburgh Pirate Andrew McCutchen showcasing some of Speck’s handiwork. (Photo from Matt Speck’s Instagram)}

I was visiting my father in Adams County, IN, late this summer and he had a copy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette my sister and brought to share with him following a recent trip she’d made to western Pennsylvania.

One of the articles in that day’s Sports Section was about a Pittsburgh-area native who’s carved out quite a niche for himself in the art scene. The story featured Matt Speck, a muralist, who’s added customized footwear for NFL, MLB, and local college and high school athletes to his portfolio.

The article told the story of how Matt grew up going to Pittsburgh Steelers’ games every season with his grandfather and fell in love with all things Pittsburgh sports. It was, in fact, a lengthy conversation with his now deceased grandfather that convinced him to leave a position in marketing (his field of study at the University of Pittsburgh) to pursue his passion … art.

After reading this feature, it was apparent to me that Matt would make a terrific guest on Conversations. Needless to say, when we finally found a time that worked for both of us, I was ecstatic to have him join. This episode is the resulting Conversation where Matt shares his sports fan journey, how a not-so-small lie led to him breaking into the custom cleat field, and his desire to do something for his hometown NHL franchise as well.

You’re able to find Matt’s work at his website, speckcustoms.com, and his X/Twitter and Instagram pages.