Versikaitis - The Art of Sport - 2014

Welcome to Versikaitis- The Art of Sport... With all of the new CFL stadiums being built, there is a need for art in the facilities, restaurants, and luxury boxes. Artwork can also be used to honour a players life time achievement, sports memorabilia, and for charity auctions. Contents 3 Artist Statement 4 Established Sport Artist 6 A Stance 8 Commissions 9 Latest Piece 10 Coach Huf 14 Jay Bouwmeester 15 Bill Ranford 18 Teemu Selanne 30 Jarome Iginla 32 Cartoonist 33 Feature Piece “ Henry Burris Feature Art Piece A Painting of Henry Burris It all started with a phone call from a world known sports artist by the name of Stephen Holland. We talked about approaching professional sports teams, players, and what inspired him to paint. Our conversation went from hockey to basketball and then to football. With his encouragement I added another sport into my portfolio.... ....The Canadian Football League!.... Copyright © 2014 by Joe Versikaitis. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher Mig - Jer Productions. Printed in Calgary, AB - Canada First Printing, 2013 Mig - Jer Productions 48 Evansfield Way NW - T3P 0L1 www.versikaitis.com Joe Versikaitis www.versikaitis.com [email protected]

Artist Statement “ I will create the main character as close to realism as I can, I will then finish the rest in a manner as Ilike to call, semi abstract. This is the part where I just slap the paint around and have fun. This is my style!I have spent my life studying and sometimes teaching art. I use acrylics as my main medium but I will goback and forth to pastels. With acrylics, there is the mixing of the colors and after a few paintings, when I getfrustrated of mixing, I will switch to pastels. The colors are already made up….Change is good!                                      I have come to the conclusion that realism is not about painting something exactly as it appears. It’smore about creating an illusion with the colors and shapes. To make the subject on your canvas look so realthat it compels the viewer to touch the painting.I love it when people critique or take a closer look at my work. Especially when they find something new thatthey missed earlier. The modern day masters like Robert Bateman, the late Giuseppe Dangelico also known by as “ Pino“, or my mentor Stephen Holland who’s work just fascinates me. Their style’s, even though different, bringsthe viewer else where in life. Bateman paintings make you say, “Yes, I remember seeing those hawks dothat!” With Pino’s style the viewer is sent to see beautiful people and places in the Mediterranean. Placeswhere I wish I could go someday to visit or stay. But to call Stephen Holland my mentor is an honor. Hispassion for sports art wears off on me. After chatting it up with Stephen, I feel that I can paint the world ofsports on one canvas. One HUGE canvas! I want to make the viewer connect on his or her own personal feelings towards my artwork. Toreflect on what they experienced when they watched that certain player.I believe in sharing my inspirations or what my thoughts process was when I created that piece. Thisallows the viewer to further connect with the piece. I want the viewer to enjoy the painting as much as didcomposing it.This is what keeps my dream a live, the dream to create my ideas, my compositions and my illusions of theprofessional sport world.My goal, of course to have my images exhibited insports venues all over the world, which would be anhonoring experience. The final touch would be tohave the image exhibited in the sport enthusiastshome. 3

Established Sport Artist Joe’s life long dream is to become an established sports artist Joe is a self-taught artist. He has a Degree in Computer Graphics and Dynamic Media with a distinction in the Print Media / Marketing, from Applied Multi Media Training Cen- ter in Calgary, Alberta. Joe has been honing as artwork since 1980. “ I recall in school for my work experience class, I was asked if teaching grade 7 art would be of any interest to me....re- ally? “ Here is a grade 10 student being asked to help teach a grade 7 art class for a semester. “ Of course I’ll teach!” The next se- mester with the guidance of his life long art teacher, Maham Patel, Joe helped teach the grade 7 and 8 art class. When Joe was in Grade 12, he was teaching grade 8 and 9 art class. “ It was awesome! “ Ken Dryden .... A childhood hero and many subject matter for his drawings In 1994 after creating this drawing of Ken Dryden, Joe was determined to have Ken Dryden sign this piece. The day did come in late 1996, when Ken was giving a presen- tation about his life and his famous hockey career. The presentation was in Calgary, AB a 2 hours drive from Joe’s home town of Brooks, Ab. The day of Ken’s presentation Joe sat through a delightful 4 ½ hours history brought to life by this famous hockey player. After that Ken was signing autographs for anybody that wanted one. Ken signed this drawing and asked what Joe intended to do with it. Joe replied by saying it was already auctioned off and the money went to the Boy Scouts group in Brooks. Ken asked where on the draw- ing did Joe want his signature, then shook Joe’s hand and wished him well in his art career. A few weeks later in do- ing more research about Ken Dryden, Joe found out that Ken did not put his signature on anything but his books and of course hockey cards. So to have that signature on his art work is very special.4

“ Dryden ”- Ken Dryden an 11” x 14” - Drawing - 1994 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 5

A Stance There is nothing like going to a live sport event. The excitement of the crowd and the drama of the players is a wonderful sideline to my creative inspiration. As I watch sports from a television’s point of view, I can only tell you who scored, who won, and very little on what the crowd was doing. The real excitement comes from actually being there at the game. Observing the players as they demonstrate their talents and then listening to the re- action of the crowd a s they cheer on their super stars. The cheering, booing, clapping, flag waving and the hackling are all elements of any game and therefore are my rendering in- terpretation. Throughout the years I have created different characters that I incorporate into the crowd of most of my paintings. One sample is the cheering character, the person who has his hands to his face yelling. The other one is the thunder stick person. But I believe the one I really like is the guy that I seen during an intermission break at a Calgary Flames game. He was walking towards me wearing his costume. A red afro wig, a black Zorro mask, his face painted red, a Flames jersey, black gym shorts, red leotards and white runners. Oh yeah he was also wearing a red cape and waving a Flames flag. That’s just priceless... With the main character it’s pretty simple. I’m always looking for a certain pose or a distinguish look of that player. An example of this would be Ken Dryden’s stand- ing and resting his hands on top of his goalie stick. That pose is his character pose which people associate Dryden to that pose. In my world, I would have to say the Theo Fleury painting, that stance is what I seen time and time again . The passionate look just before a face off has to be one of my favorites pose. I had the thrill to watch him play so many times and after painting his portrait the opportunity to finally meet him. This is what that stance means to me. I have been fortunate enough to be able to take my own photographs at sport events in the past few years. Whether it is hockey, soccer or baseball I’m always fascinated by the action, the emotions of the players, and the cheering crowd. The photographs themselves portray the talent of these sport minded individuals. It is these individual frames in time and a mo- ment in their lives that I wish to capture in a drawing or a painting. To render that pose forever.... This is a 1996 picture of Theo Fleury and myself after spending 5 hours signing prints. There were 314 prints and 14 Artist Proofs signed. “ Theo 14 “ - Sold Out6

“ Theo #14” - Theo Fleury - 16” x 20” - Mixed Media - 1996Limited Edition Print of 314 - Sold Out By Joe Versikaitis - 7

Commissions The Art Pieces Sandy MaCarthy, Teemu Selanne, Billy Smith, Bill Ranford, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Esa Tekkinen, Theo Fleury, Trevor Kidd, Foster Hewett, Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Annti Alltto, Kam Neely, Kris Russell, Matt Keetley, Kevin Nastiuk, Mark Messier, Jay Bouwmeester, Joffrey Lupul, Ryan Hollweg, Chris St.Jaque, Miikka Kiprusoff, Jarome Iginla, Dion Phanuef, Curtis Joseph, Paul Henderson, Brayden McNabb, Steve Yzerman, Henry Burris , Nik Lewis, Coach John Hufnagel, Jon Cornish Medicine Hat Tigers – WHL, City of Brooks, Alberta, Brooks Bandits – AJHL, Medicine Hat College, World Gym, Calgary Flames Limited Edition Prints Charities Brooks Aqueduct - 1994 Ducks Unlimited, Aqueduct Work Crew - 1994 Heart and Stroke, Rene’s Retreat - 1995 Kinsmen and Kinnittes Clubs, Trevor Kidd - 1995 CARO , The World Children Foundation, On Track for the Future - 1995 Ronald McDonald House, Theo Fleury -1996 Special Olympics. Jay Bouwmeester - 2001 Joffrey Lupul, Ryan Hollweg, Chris St.Jaque - 2002 Artwork In the following pages of this magazine you will experience the artwork of Joe Versikaitis. Each one created to the outmost detail and mannerism . Some will have a story on what inspired Joe to create the piece and show casing to the player8

Latest Piece“ Cornish ” - Jon Cornish - 22” x 28” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2013 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 9

“ Coach Huf ” - John Hufnagel- 22” x 28” - Ac rylics on Canvas - 2013 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com10

Coach Huf“ This is why I love doing this! “I had the opportunity to photo shoot a Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Ticats game. I had my mind setat taking shots a few players and go from there. As usual the shots that I was looking for didn’t come. I waslooking for a certain pose or action shot but it wasn’t materializing. I went over to the Ticats bench andsnapped a few shots of receiver Dave Stala and I was about to take more shots when the Ticats made a goodplay on the field and all the players on the bench stood up and I couldn’t see through these giants in front ofme. Well that ended that and I begun to walk back to the Stampeders side to see if my luck would change.I set out along the sideline snapping shots of the plays as they unfolding in front of me. I am not sure ifanybody knows this but it takes a long time to get around a football field when you stop and try to take actionshots. It also seemed that the play was always on the other side of the field. I finally reached the Stampedersbench.It was there where I seen the TSN cameraman that I had talked to earlier in the game. As we were talking theplay had stopped and then I seen Coach Huf wandering onto the field with his head set wrapped around hisneck asking the referee for an explanation on a call. The stadium lights lit up McMahon’s field. As Coach Hufput his head set back on his head and with  a deep concentration glare walked towards the sideline.  Eventhough there was 25,000 fans sitting on our side of the stadium , it felt like Coach Huf was looking through usand through the bleachers into the parking lot...that’s the look that I wanted to capture!As I stood there and snapped a few photos all I seen was the distant crowd behind him as a darken blur andthere in front of me was a living legend in the bright stadium lights. I recall telling the TSN cameraman who atthe time was looking in another direction “ Look at that “ I said. As heturned and pointed his camera at Coach Huf all he could say was -This is why I love doing this. I told the cameraman I can’t wait to do apainting of this.During the rest of game I was following Coach Huf for about 30 to40 more shots. Some of shots were good quality and some not sogood. When I say good quality, I mean clear and detailed and whereI can see every hair, wrinkle, stitching in the shirt, etc. The wind wasblowing pretty good so most of his shots had his hair flying all overthe place. I only had a few shots where his hair was laid down andstyled if you wish. I decided to go with the messy hair look becausethat’s how I recall seeing it.That’s how paintings are conceived and created.It’s a real neat experience being near the play on the field andlistening to the crowd behind you. But it’s even more especial tostand beside the players on the sideline and listen to what they sayto each other. There is coaches talking about the next play with theplayers that just got off the field. Then there was the kicker ReneParedes going through his routine. He was my prop for a good 40shots most likely a future painting. At one time there was the thought of painting a sleeve on his arm!I have my canvas ready for my next Stampeder but you’ll have to wait to see it. 11

“ Bretsky ” - Brett Schimmel - 18” x 24” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2013 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com12

“ Kipper ” - Miikka Kiprusoff - 18” x 24” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2008 1st place 2008 Canadian National Portrait Competition By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 13

Jay Bouwmeester TIGERS EDUCATION FUND UNVEILS FUND RAISING PROGRAM Tuesday, September 18, 2001 Medicine Hat, AB - Education in hockey has been brought to the forefront today with the Medicine Hat Tigers un- veiling a new fund raising project for the Medicine Hat Tigers Education Fund Society. The Tigers commissioned Joe Versikaitis of Brooks, AB to do an acrylic portrait painting on canvas of Tigers’ de- fenseman Jay Bouwmeester during the summer. A lim- ited edition print of the painting will be sold with 100% of the proceeds going to the Medicine Hat Tigers Edu- cation Fund Society. A total of 300 prints will be made and will sell for $99.95 each. “When I met Joe last year and saw his portfolio of sport portraits, I knew we had a very talented artist living in our backyard,” said Tigers’ director of marketing and public relations Dave Andjelic. “Joe’s NHL portraits are very impressive and at the time, I was looking for an- other fund raising project for our education fund. I re- alized Joe’s work would be a perfect fit for us.” “Jay Bouwmeester is the one of the highest profile player in all of junior hockey,” Andjelic said. “As soon as I saw Joe’s work, I knew we had the ideal subject, in“ Bouwmeester - #4 “ 16” x 20” acrylic on canvas painting of Jay, for Joe’s next portrait. We have a tremendous oppor- Jay Bouwmeester - 2001 tunity here to raise in excess of $30,000.00 for our educa- tion fund”.The Tigers will auction off the original artwork on eBay, the leading Internet auction web site, following the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.Bernie Leahy of Sutton Group - Medicine Hat has stepped forward insponsoring this fund raising project and the Tigers would like to thank Bernie for his involvement. In this 2001 picture Jay Bouwmeester is sitting in front of 300 limit- ed edition prints which he is about to sign. Jay played for the Medi- cine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League and is now playing for the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League.14

Bill Ranford “ Ranford “ 22” x 28” mixed media of Bill Ranford - 1993 When Bill played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1987-96 - Signed by Bill Ranford.The painting was going to be the first limited edition print created by Joe. The week of the printing Bill Ranford got traded to the Boston Bruins. The whole printing process was stoppedThis is Bill signing the piece. The middle person is Bill’s dad and his personal trainer. 15

“ Esposito” - Tony Esposito an 11” x 14” - Drawing - 1995 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com16

“ Kidder #37 ” - Trevor Kidd - 20” x 28” - Mixed Media - 1995Limited Edition Print of 337 - Sold Out By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 17

“ Mr. Flash ” - Teemu Selanne - 22” x 30” - Acrylics on Canvas - 1998 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com18

Teemu Selanne - Mr. FlashBack in 1997 just after the Mighty Ducks finished playing the Flames. I was standing in front of the visiting team dressing at the Calgary Olympic Saddledome.  The concourse area in front of the players dressing rooms is an area about 15 feetwide but it circles the whole Saddledome. Basically this is the area where you see a lot of the TV interviews of the players as they walk off the ice surface.  I was introduced to Pierre Pagé by an acquaintance of mine Don Wilson. Don was a insurance broker in Brooks, Alberta and a huge hockey fan with Flames season tickets. Don and Pierre have been friends for many years prier to this night. Pierre was head coach of the then Anaheim Mighty Ducks. We had received the permission to go down and talk to Pierre Pagé. With Dons introduction, the meeting between Pierreand myself turned to why I was there. My answer was, I wanted to do artwork of one particular player on the Ducks team. That player was Teemu Selanne. After the small chat we headed down this long hallway that lead to the visiting team dressing room.  I had with me myportfolio, which was at the time a photo album full of my artwork. Then I had another album with reference photos that Ipurchased from Bruce Bennett Studios. I believe there was 10 and each one was a different pose of Teemu. In my pocket Ihad my home made business cards. I was ready, I must of looked like a retard but I was ready! And that’s how I started my art career. I just went and tried my hardest to get introduced to the right people who in turn would hopefully introduce me to the players themselves. If that didn’t work I would wait for the Samboni driver to open the over head door to the building and run in when he had his back to me....Just kidding!We got to the door of the dressing room and Pierre Pagé turned to us to say “Teemu just finished having a shower so I’m not sure what dressed condition he will be in. You might have to just look the other way for a couple of minutes Ok?”  As we walked into the dressing room Pierre Pagé turned again and said “ Oh he is still talking to the press. You’ll have to wait your turn. You can have a seat right over there.”  Pierre Pagé pointed to the locker stall that had the only clothes left in the dressing room. Those clothes belonged to Teemu. As Don and I walked over to the stall I was mesmerized by what I was seeing. It was like I was watching a scene from a movie.. There in the middle of the dressing room was Teemu perched upon a bench so that he could over look all the cameras and reporters that were waiting to ask him questions about the great game that he just finish show casing. Don and I waited for what seem like 5 minutes but I’m sure it was more like an hour.  Finally the reporters and cameras crews started to leave one by one. Then there was the last scene of Teemu standing upon the bench, towel wrapped around him and still smiling for the cameras. It was a pretty cool scene to view.You know it’s funny after all these years that scene is quite vivid in my mind. From the lights going off and Teemu shakinghands with the reporter and camera man. To him stepping down and walking towards the stall and sit down right beside me. That I will never forget. Pierre Pagé was there beside Don and myself. I was sitting down taking this all in. As Teemu came near I stood up and Pierre Pagé introduced me to Teemu.With a strong accent he said “ Hello Joe. Good to meet you! “ Very nice to meet you too Teemu ! “ Was all I could mustard...He excused himself and got dressed then he asked what was on my mind. I started to tell him about my artwork and howhe needed to have my painting hanging up in his house. The business part took over. As I showed him my portfolio and all the photos of him. He’s interest grew  and he seem to really like the painting I did of Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and EsaTikkanen of the Edmonton Oilers. He then asked me something that I will never forget. This is something that many artist should take to heart. He asked me “ Why do I paint hockey players? “ I looked at Don, Pierre, and back at Teemu and all I could say was this.“ I love painting portraits and I love watching hockey so the two go hand in hand. But most important is the thrill to meet a player like yourself, do the artwork, and then watch the smile come onto your face when you see the final art piece of yourself.  “ Teemu looked at me and smiled to which he said “ Ok, when can I see this piece?” Pointing to the art piece of Wayne Gretzky... The conversation turned to when the Ducks would be in Calgary again. At that the time the Oliympic’s were around thecorner and Teemu would be practicing with Finland and it was just too long a time to wait. Pierre said that they would be in Edmonton in two weeks. I asked Teemu how I can get a hold of him up in Edmonton and he gave me his cell number. He gave me his freaken cell number...wow!I then asked at what hotel they would be staying at in Edmonton and how do I page you at the front desk. Again without hesitation I got an answer from Teemu. “ Call me Mr. Flash! The front desk will know who I am!” The meeting was scheduled. I didn’t get a chance to see him in Edmonton but we did communicate by phone. I created the painting and met Temmu down in Anaheim, Ca to deliver it to him. He never did get to see the original of Gretzky, Kurri, and Tikkanen, perhaps some day! 19

“ Foster ” - Foster Hewitt - 16” x 20” - Pastels - 2000 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com20

“ Keets ” - Matt Keetley - 18” x 24” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2007 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 21

22 Please Rotate Image to the right by going to View>Rotate View on your Tool Bar “ Lewis ” - Nik Lewis - 24” x 48” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2013 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com

23 “ The Magnificent Trio ” - Gretzky, Kurri, and Tikkanen - 16” x 20” - acrylic on canvas - 1998 Original signed by Wayne Gretzky - By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com

24 “ Kiprusoff ” - Mikka Kiprusoff - 16” x 20” - Drawing - 2009 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com

“ McNabb ” - Brayden McNabb - 22” x 28” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2009 Original signed by Brayden McNabb - By Joe Versikaitis www.versikaitis.com25

26 “ MATTY ” - Mathieu Garon - 16” x 20” - Mixed Media Drawing - 2010 By Joe Versikaitis www.versikaitis.com

Please Rotate Image to the left by going to View>Rotate View on your Tool Bar “Miikka Kiprusoff ”- Calgary Flames - 16” x 20” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2007 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com27

“ Stevie Y ” - Steve Yzerman - 16” x 20” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2010 Auction Piece for The World Children Foundation in Medicine Hat, AB By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com28

Page 29 “ Justice “ “ Defense” - Dion Phaneuf - 18” x 24” - Mixed Media - 2010Auction Piece for Stars and Spurs Gala in Calgary - 2010 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 29

Jarome Iginla - Jarome Many a times I had the opportunity to study Jarome Iginla in a stance. Again I was amazed at both the level of focus and intensity he brings to the game. For the number of years that Iggy has been in the NHL, his pose has inspired over 35,000 photographs. To me as an artist these photos are a never ending references supplies. Whatever pose I see on the ice I know there will be enough reference photos to help me paint it.  In doing this painting of Jarome Iginla. I had some very interesting experiences. First, in my art career I’ve done murals that are over 10 foot tall and wide.  This is the first time that I’ve ever done a painting this big on canvas.   Second of all, it was the challenges that came into affect when a person commits to venture like this one. This painting threw a curve ball at me a couple of times. One being I am not used to having a neutral background. I always have characters or the presence of a crowd. The other is the number 12 on his jersey, which gave me some grief for some reason. I had to re -draw it out and of course re-paint it. Looks good now! The third experience was trying to figure out how to get this painting signed by Jarome.   We haven’t figured it out yet! The best experience I had and the most gratifying opportunity was to talk to one of this generation world known sports artist, Stephen Holland. This down to earth gentleman had nothing but great marketing advice and the modesty to tell me my work was good! To get a critique from Stephen was a gratifying experience.  As an artist not only did I get the opportunity to create this painting but I believe I also formed a friendship.  People always ask how long a painting takes and this piece took over 275 hours. I don’t believe the more hours you put into a piece makes the painting though. I believe it takes strategy and a lot of patience’s to create this illusion of colors and shapes.... I’m just drawing out the string tie on the jersey. I do my art work with the piece upside down a lot of the time. This gives me the opportunity to see shapes easier. Instead of a nose i see a triangular shape. Doing my art and watching my favorite show the “ Cake Boss “ on TLC Kinda looks like he’s watching me paint...EH! Budda Boom, Buddaa Bing! I had the honor to talk to Stephen Holland during the process of the painting. We talked about marketing and everything in between. Stephen is beside his David Ortiz “ Big Papi ” painting. Now we’re talking Awesome sports painting!30

“ Jarome” - Jarome Iginla - 30” x 40” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2011 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 31

Cartoonist In the late 1990’s I was freelancing as a cartoonist for a local newspaper. This is one of the hundreds of pieces I created during my time. It was the day that Graham James went to jail. Graham James was convicted for molesting hockey player during his stint in the WHL. In this piece I wanted to illustrated the moment that James first entered into the jail cell only to find his roommate with a little surprise. I called it...... “ Justice “32

Feature Piece Henry Burris - BurrisIt all started with a phone call from a world known sports artist by the name of Stephen Holland. We talked aboutapproaching professional sports teams, players, and what inspired him to paint. Our conversation went from hockey tobasketball and then to football. With his encouragement I added another sport into my portfolio. The Canadian Football League!With Stephens encouragement to pursuit this project I charted a course of action.  I knew that I couldn’t just approachthe football squads without knowing who to approach. Since I was in search of another painting project for a local charitycalled CARO.  I had a conversation with Rob Wanner, CARO - President in turn introduced me to Medicine Hat - Alderman- Graham Kelly. Mr. Kelly himself a CFL sport writer with many books about the CFL and the Grey Cup.  With Grahams help,I able to send out corresponding letters to four CFL clubs asking for permission to create one of kind art pieces of a few oftheir players.It was the Calgary Stampeders that gave me this opportunity. Let me tell you I was pretty excited when I found out I wasgranted permission to the sideline for a photo shoot of a game between the Calgary Stampeders and the Hamilton Ti-Cats! This story is why I love doing this!The day of the game my nerves got the best of me. I remember arriving at the McMahon Stadium parking lot and thegentleman at the gate telling me that I was a little early... like 3 hours early!The painting is only half of the experience. The other part was being on the sideline during the game . The freedom towalk around any where on the sidelines to take action photos was a unique and wonderful experience. I was like an artistin a candy store wondering which piece I should take and in this case which player I can take photos of.The thrill to take different angle shots of place kicker Burke Dales and Field Goal specialist Rene Paredes was somethingfrom a sport documentary. While they were going through their routines I was trying to find that perfect shot. I’msure glad they didn’t get mad at me for doing that. At one point I wanted to ask Rene if he remembers anything aboutVenezuela since this is where we both were born. But then I found myself being distracted by the other events takingplace on the sideline.I watched coach John Hufnagel wandering onto the field with his head set wrapped around his neck asking the refereefor an explanation on a call. By then the night sky had set in and now the stadium lights lit up McMahon’s field. CoachHufnagel turned towards the sideline puts his head set back on his head and walked towards the sideline. You can seethat he was in deep concentration. As an artist I am always looking for that particular pose or stance of a player in thiscase it was coach Hufnagel. I pictured the distant crowd behind him as a darken blur and there in front of me was aliving legend in the spot light. I remember telling the TSN camera man. Look at that  “ WOW “ way too cool. As he turnedand pointed his camera at Coach Hufnagel all he could say was - This is why I love doing this. At that moment I took theopportunity to snap a few photos of my own. Hopefully a future painting!Back to the “ Burris ” painting, after a week of pouring over action photos I made up my mind to go with a couple ofshots put together. One photo shows Henry clasping the ball in front of him. The only thing I didn’t really like was thequality of photo. The pose is great but the quality wasn’t there. He was out in the middle of the field just a little too far formy 200mm. So I found another pose from a series of shots that I took of Henry while standing in front of the players areaduring a break in play. The quality is great. The photo shows Henry looking at me while I took his photo. So I combine thehead and body together in photoshop and presto! We have a pose! I was really happy and excited with that pose. It looks like Henry is running with the ball and looking at me to throw theball to! ..lol Continued on next page 33

Burris - Continued It was an honour to be amongst today’s top CFL players. I have so many great memories of that game and shoot. Just to have the opportunity to live out a part of my dream through my photography is one thing. But expressing this feeling through my art work is like the camera man said...”This is why I love doing this! “ I would like to send a great BIG Thank YOU to:  Chris Jurewicz - Calgary Stampeders for giving me this opportunity to create this piece. Graham Kelly - Medicine Hat’s Ald  himself a sports writer with many CFL Books. Mr. Kelly grew up in Regina, and worked for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a teenager. He covered the CFL for United Press International in Regina from 1963 to 1968. Since 1972, he has written a weekly column on the CFL for the Medicine Hat News. During those years, he has covered Calgary, Saskatchewan and Edmonton games, plus 30 Grey Cups. He has been selected to vote for the CFL All-Star teams and to be a nominator for the CFL Schlenley and League awards, as well as the Coach of the Year. In 2002, Kelly was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, football reporters` division. Kelly and his wife, Lorena, live in Medicine Hat, Alberta. His books are; Great Grey Cups - The Best of Canadian Football Green grit: The story of the Saskatchewan Roughriders [Hardcover] The Grey Cup [Hardcover]   Robert Wanner - President of CARO for the encouragement in pursuing this project. One of the main reason for pursuing this project is to set up an art print series of Canadian Football Players. Proceeds from these prints would go towards CARO a chapter of the World Children Foundation.  Wally Regehr and my son Miguel for their help in constructing the corresponding letter to the CFL teams. Special thanks to Stephen Holland for his encouragement to pursuit this project. Thank you for visiting with me and I hope you enjoyed viewing “ Burris”.34

“ Burris ” - Henry Burris - 22” x 28” - Acrylics on Canvas - 2011 By Joe Versikaitis - www.versikaitis.com 35

I would like to thank my wonderful wife Michele and my beautifulchildren Miguel and Jericka for their patience and understanding into what it takes to search for my dream.... Joe Versikaitis