The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves art
Philadelphia Phillies won it all. He has created perhaps 150 mosaic artworks since then, in an enterprise he calls Art of Words.
To enshrine the Braves’ World Series win, Duffy focused on Freeman, not just because his catch at first base sealed the deal, but because Freeman was the glue that held the team together.
“He’s such a distinctive-looking guy,” said Duffy. “He’s got this cool red hair, these eyebrows and all that, and there he was, when they won, in that moment of jubilation.”
Duffy took a screengrab from a broadcast of the game and started with a pencil sketch of Freeman in that moment, working on heavy watercolor-type paper. Then, on top of that image, he overlaid a handwritten grid of statistics from the Braves’ season, 177 games, 4,869 letters and numbers, using ballpoints, Sharpies and gel pens, in a hundred different colors.
Atlanta snuffed Philadelphia’s chances at a National League East title this year, extending the Phillies’ postseason losing streak to 10 years. The Braves also spoiled Philadelphia’s chances a variety of times in the 1990s. “You guys ruined my childhood,” said Duffy.
But the artist doesn’t hold it against Atlanta, and he is, in fact, planning another graphic that will charm Braves fans. Sometime next
In addition to baseball images, Duffy creates images from football, basketball and major league soccer, as well as images that pay homage to great rock ‘n’ roll bands and figures from history.
year he hopes to finish an image that will celebrate the Braves’ 151 years as a team, with a mosaic composed of the names of every Brave to have ever played with the team, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta.
In addition to baseball
images, Duffy creates images from football, basketball and major league soccer, as well as images that pay homage to great rock ‘n’ roll bands and figures from history.
(He created a portrait of John F. Kennedy using the words from Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address, in which the new president told his listeners, “Ask not what your country can do for you.”)
Duffy also immortalizes college football teams and has optimistic words for University of Georgia fans in search of a national championship. “I did Alabama in 2020, and I’m hoping not for a repeat,” he said. The Bulldogs, said Duffy, “have another shot at it. Alabama could lose.”
Your lips to God’s ear. Daniel Duffy will create about 1,000 prints from his Freddie Freeman drawing, at $49.99 each. For more information, go to artofwords.com.