My Gretzky Card Hits Ebay!!!!!!!

Gretzky, acrylic on trading card, 2.5x3.5", 2011

This first of my hand painted Parkhurst cards has finally turned up on Ebay!! I have been monitoring the site, waiting for one to appear. The other cards by other artists were going for an average of $50 after all bidding. My card has had only 3 bids so far and is already at $150!!! I hope you'll check it out HERE. Thanks for the opportunity to do this, Upper Deck. Best of luck to all the collectors out there bidding on this great little masterpiece. - Jared

Upper Deck Reveals the Parkhurst Champions Work

This is a sneak peak at the work I did for Upper Deck on their Parkhurst Hockey series, scheduled to hit the shelves on Oct.20th. I painted 10 cards each of Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, and Gordie Howe. Each was painted directly on a blank trading card and will be a very cool pick for some lucky, random customers. You can also see close-ups of these paintings on my Facebook page. Enjoy - Jared

New Job, New Art, New Fans

After wrapping up the Presidential mini portraits for Upper Deck Trading Cards earlier this year, I was contacted by Dr. Brian Price, CEO and President of In The Game Trading Cards, and offered an opportunity to do hand painted cards for the Sport Kings line. After  seeing the loyal attitude that Sport Kings embraces regarding art in their cards, I felt like it was a great chance for me to showcase more of my talents. I signed on with them for the 2012 season. More detail is available about the upcoming work at the Sport Kings website.

The photo included (Magic Johnson) is one of the many cards that will be available for the 2012 release. Hand painted on an actual trading card, signed by me on the back and will be available in packs of cards starting 2012.

Abraham Lincoln

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

Franklin Pierce

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

Millard Fillmore

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

Zachary Taylor

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

James K. Polk

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

John Tyler

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

William Henry Harrison

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

Marin Van Buren

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

Andrew Jackson

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

John Quincy Adams

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

James Monroe

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

James Madison

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

Thomas Jefferson

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011

John Adams

UpperDeck Goodwin Champions Series, acrylic on baseball card, 2½x3½", 2011 

The Presidents..... Unveiled

My work for UpperDeck has ended with regards to this project. I completed 220 of these presidential portraits in a period of 4 months - A NEW RECORD BY FAR! The scale of these baseball cards was obviously a major challenge. It wasn't always fun staying holed up in my studio from sun up till sun down, all the while looking like Rick Moranis from "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" with coke-bottle magnifiers and head lamps on display. I used Liquitex Basics and Golden Heavy Body paints along with Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Satin). Enjoy all 22 presidents in the next many posts - Jared

The UpperDeck Presidential Project

UpperDeck commission series, acrylic, 2.5x3.5", 2011 - In stores July 5, 2011

The UpperDeck Trading Card Company contacted me last August about doing a series of hand painted trading cards featuring all 43 presidents. I received the cards in late November and began painting at the first of this year. Each president had to be painted 10 times for the limited edition, which is part of the selling point. That was a total of 430 individual portraits! Due to rigid deadlines I was not able to do all 430 myself and sent UpperDeck 220 finished president cards on April 20th. That was 220 portraits in a four ½ month period! Each card took approximately 4 hours from start to finish, with the layout having to be hand drawn first, then several series of glazes and layers before it was completed. I have posted images of all 220 paintings on my FB page - Works by J.Evan Kelley - check it out and leave a note. I hope to start back on the regular blog postings here now that the burden of micro-painting is out from over me. Enjoy - J

Elaine's Sign

Elaine's Sewing Room, acrylic on board, approx. 11x30", 2010
(Our arts & craft booth snapshot - 2010)

I had the recent pleasure of producing a custom sign for a local artisan in Prattville, AL. During an arts and craft show in October, a gentleman approached me and wanted to know if I could do a customized antiqued sign, similar to the John Deere sign shown in the booth snapshot above. I pulled a couple scraps of wood from our property and put together the Elaine's Sewing Room sign. My client, John, told me I was free to make it as I pleased so long as it had "Elaine's Sewing Room" on it. I love that kind of freedom and confidence from a client. In the end, the wife and I really loved the way it looked. About 10 days later, my wife and I were at a sewing supply store ourselves looking at sewing machines when the employee at the counter said that she recognized my name. John had been there just hours earlier and mentioned to the employees that he had just commissioned a local artist to do a special sign for his wife's sewing room. He even had the sign in his car and showed the staff the actually sign. It made me feel good to know that my client loved his sign enough to keep it in his car for show & tell - 10 days after I gave it to him! Very funny. Happy New Year - Jared