New York Mets Logo Baseball by Darren Maurer

6" x 6"

After I painted the baseball in my previous blog post I received a request from a collector in New York City to complete a commission New York Mets baseball. Lettering and logos always provide a challenge when included in a painting. It always makes me crazy seeing bad letter structure in paintings. I have been an art director at a sign company for over twenty years and lettering structure mistakes jump out at me very quickly. It can really make or break your piece when done well or poorly.

While I was working on this I could not get the old Garrett Morris skit from Saturday Night Live out of my head. Morris' most famous character was Latino baseball player Chico Escuela who best line was, "Baseball been berra, berra good to me." The funniest thing to me in the skit was the tell-all book he wrote entitled, "Bad Stuff 'Bout the Mets" Then he gives an example in the interview about "Ed Kranepool, a Mets player in the 60's and 70's, "He borrow Chico's soap and never give it back". Classic funny stuff. I'm laughing while I'm writing this. This is painting 281 in my Painting A Day Series. Commission Painting - Sold.

Baseball - Daily Painting by Darren Maurer

6" x 6"

The start of baseball season usually means spring is here. I painted this to signify the simple aspects of baseball. The kids, little league, home town rivalries, and going to Dairy Queen afterwards win or lose. That's what we did when I was younger. Usually members from the opposing team were there also. We all sat together and talked baseball. That was fun. That was baseball to me. This is painting 280 in my Painting A Day Series. I will offer this piece on eBay starting Wednesday evening unless someone emails me before then to claim it. $100 UPDATE: Painting sold at 8:08am

Now That's A Big Pickle!! by Darren Maurer

16" x 48"

I finished another painting that has been in progress for awhile. Showing it on the easel will give you an idea of the scale. I somehow got this vision of a pickle spear in my head about a month ago and knew I wanted to paint it. I am really having fun painting some larger paintings in between my miniatures. I just need to find a place to market them now. Painting Available $750. (Email Me for Purchase Details)

Hometown Cafe Table - by Darren Maurer

24" x 36"

Here is a larger sized painting I have been working on. I've included a photograph of it on my easel to show the scale of the piece. I really like the fact that all the condiments are backlit from the window causing the shadows to be in the foreground. I have another painting subject I'm going to be working on from this same cafe. I'm also going to paint it larger.....maybe 36" x 48"? More on that later. Painting Available $1500. (Email Me for Purchase Details)

Pink Flip Flops - by Darren Maurer

6" x 6"

Summer will be here soon. My daughters have several of these flip flop shoes that they wear all summer long and well into the fall. I saw this pink pair under my computer desk this morning and wanted to paint them. They were difficult to photograph and capture the vivid strength of the pink paint. The original color is very nice against a cool grey background. This is painting 279 in my Painting A Day Series. Painting Available $100. (Email Me for Purchase Details)