It was Opening Day for Major League Baseball the other day, which is always a red letter day for me. It’s sort of like 2013 has officially began, that my day to day life now has something with which to synchronize, something to fall in rhythm with. So, even though I have been feeling under the weather for several days, I was able to complete a new piece, one that had been banging around in my head for a long time. It incorporated the perfect geometry of the baseball diamond nestled among a tightly clustered neighborhood of Red Roofs. It’s an odd piece, one that feels both typical and atypical at once. That’s a quality that I like.
I have been wanting to incorporate the baseball diamond into one of my landscapes, perhaps influenced by some of the folk art paintings that did it so well. I have featured some of these here, such as Malcah Zeldis’ Homage to Hank Greenberg, shown at the bottom of this page, or Ralph Fasanella’s Sandlot Baseball, shown here on the left. These are paintings I like very much as much for the baseball aspect as for the wonderful folk art manner in which they are painted. There is something in the sight of a diamond that has a hypnotic effect on me, something I hoped to capture in a painting.
I always remember the feeling when I was a kid and we went to Shea Stadium to see the Mets play, especially for night games. You would head out from the dim light of the concourse and emerge into the brightness of the field lights. The green of the field was so vibrant, the brownish red of the infield dirt so rich. There was something perfect in looking down on that diamond, a design that made so much sense to a child’s mind. A beautiful geometry, one that equalizes weaknesses and strengths. The length of the basepaths, for example, are such that on a hard hit ball to the infield a fast runner can be easily thrown out at first but a slower runner can often beat out a soft groundball.
Here, a small man could easily conquer a much larger man from a distance of 60′ 6 “, the distance from homeplate to the pitching rubber. Skill overcomes pure strength, size and athleticism. If you ever saw Michael Jordan flailing helplessly at minor league curveballs, you’ll know what I mean.
I could write a lot more here. And I probably should. But I simply want to show this new piece, a 20″ by 24″ that I’m calling Geometry of the Heart. Here, the ball park, a Little League sort of field, represents the heart of the neighborhood, the openness of the field stands in direct contrast with the cramped houses. This is a painting that I have really enjoyed painting, one that is probably more for myself than for anyone else but one that I needed to paint.
Redtree Times 
I’m not the biggest fan of folk art, but I must say, the combination of the style with the subject of baseball is perfect. Zeldis’ and Fasanella’s paintings are lovely, interesting and complex.
As for your painting, it’s got a quirk to it I just love. When I first saw it, I missed the baseball diamond completely. What I saw was a portrait of a baseball player in the midst of the red roofs. See him? He’s facing left, with his nose quite prominent. The baseball diamond itself looked like a batting helmet to me, with his ear beneath the infield. What I saw as an eye is, of course, the bleachers.
It’s really a great image. It’s analogous to the Rubin vase phenomenon.
Something else you may enjoy is this Norman Rockwell-like photo from opening day, 2009. It’s so purely Rockwell it’s amazing.
It’s a great picture but two things are worth noting. Firstly, it’s not a picture from Opening Day, 2009; it’s a picture from Game One of the 2009 World Series. Secondly, and more importantly, credit should be given to the photographer, Elise Amendola of the Associated Press.
The confusion was mine. The article I linked at “American Digest” clearly states that the photo’s from Game One of the 2009 series, and Gerard properly links to the WSJ Photo Journal where the original photo is found. I saw Gerard’s Reference to opening day in his title, and simply missed that the photo is from some years earlier. But it’s clear in his piece.
Also, I see I messed up my own links here. If you click “Norman Rockwell-like photo”, it will take you to the article with the proper information and attribution.
I hadn’t seen the face before. What a great perspective– it reminds me of Charlie Brown’s round head!
I love the photo from the World Series and had not seen it before. The expressions on those faces are remarkable and definitely Rockwell-like. Thanks so much for including it!
Love this one-went to opening day at Nationals Park and it is becoming more surrounded every day. Are you going to bring this with you at your show in June at The Principal Gallery? Is it for sale?
Thank you, Laura. No, this one won’t be at the June show– it sold to a friend in Massachusetts. But, based on how well this piece worked, I am considering doing another baseball themed piece or two for the show. Keep an eye out here and I will probably show it at some point.
Looking forward to seeing them-thanks.
[…] in early April I showed a painting , Geometry of the Heart, on this blog. It was an overhead scene of a baseball diamond being crowded in by a mass of […]
Please tell me where I can buy a poster print of ‘Geometry of the Heart’. As a former player and someone who grew up in the shadows of Wrigley Field, it speaks to me about so much in our history and consciousness. Thank you. –Aaron
Hi– Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. So glad you liked this piece, The Geometry of the Heart. I love doing this baseball series because, like you, I think it links so much to our country’s history and consciousness. I normally don’t have a print of this painting available but I will post one for a while so that you can obtain one. If you go the link below you will find it available as an unframed art print on paper, a framed print and a canvas print. They do a very good job with these products. Hope this is what you were looking for.
https://society6.com/gcmyers/s?q=popular+wall-art
No worries at all. And, thank you!