"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts" ~Dan Gable
"We all have dreams but in order to make those dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self discipline and effort"
~Jesse Owens
SERIES ORIGIN
In a way, this series began years ago when track star and model Kerron Clement came to me asking to create artwork based off of his image. I was unaware of his athletic endeavors at the time and the work he requested was unrelated to track & field. Years later, in 2009, I just happened to turn the television on at the right time to see Kerron standing on top the podium at the World Championships in Germany winning the 400m hurdle race. The shinning gold medal around his neck sparked the idea in me to create an image - taking the symbol of a gold medal and figuratively placing the metal onto the athletes body. The concept became a reality in October of 2012 when I met with Kerron in Gainesville Florida to create the first gold image. The artwork was a success and the TEAM GOLD series was off and running. To date, 9 Olympic gold medalists have taken part in the series.
Gold is a rare element. Even more rare is the gold trophy handed out every four years to those who have achieved something most can only dream of - Olympic victory. This is an amazing achievement, forged by hard work and shrouded in tradition and prestige that has inspired me to immortalize those athletes into artwork that will stand the test of time.
TEAM GOLD is an art series I have created which focuses on athletes of the United States who have earned Olympic gold medals. The purpose of this work is to highlight their achievements and to bring inspiration to those who love the traditions of the Olympic Games as I do. It is my hope that this work will someday find its way into Olympic facilities and training centers, where it can be viewed by the next generation of athletes. If one athlete looks to my work and is inspired to try harder to achieve their dreams, then I have accomplished the main goal that I had set out for this series.