“Hail to the Lion” Artist Tom Mosser
$175.00 – $475.00
As an artist, Tom Mosser, is always looking around for ideas whether it be at a home depot, at a Pep Boys, at sporting good store, or in the alleyway dumpster near his studio.
Says Tom, “The Andy Warhol Museum is a 4-mile straight shot from my studio on RT. 28 here in Pittsburgh. I go there several times a year. I’ve watched a PBS documentary about him over 50 times. The little Andy on my shoulder is always asking me ‘How can I create art in a way that hasn’t been done before? How about painting with balls, tires and sneakers. These items all leave unique imprints and are perfect for creating logo treatments especially.”
Tom feels that virtually everything that people do is inspired by an idea, whether it’s what to eat for breakfast, a shot selection in tennis or, in his case, how to create art. Says Tom,”Take sports. Every shot and strategy in a tennis match are based on micro ideas. Basketball moves and strategy are all micro ideas. Golf strategy is immersed in creative thought. The very core of all sports and strategy is based on creativity. Ideas and acting on those ideas are the foundation.”
He continues, “Andy said ‘Art is are all around us.’ and that’s true. But more importantly so are great ideas. The idea of looking around ourselves and finding something completely fresh and new. If you do that, if you say, paint with a Penn State football, stuff happens. Something completely fresh and creative, happens. Shooting for for those elusive original or semi-original thoughts should always be a goal.”
| Framing Options | Unframed, Black Frame, Walnut Frame, Mahogany Frame |
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About Beaver Stadium:
The original Beaver Field was located on the west side of campus and seated 30,000 fans. Named for James Beaver, President of the Board of Trustees, the Nittany Lions played at the original Beaver Field from 1909 until 1959. In 1960, the original Beaver Field was moved to its current location and renamed Beaver Stadium.
Out of all of the State College fall activities, Penn State Football weekends are the quintessential experience. Rather than being surrounded by parking decks and high-rise buildings, Beaver Stadium, where the Penn State Nittany Lions play, is surrounded by fields. On Penn State Football weekends, those fields turn into some of the largest tailgating fields in the country. Fans pack up grills, coolers and yard games and travel to State College from all over in RVs, vans, SUVs, trucks and cars.
Before every home game is one big Penn State picnic — there’s a reason it made the list of America’s Top 10 College Tailgate Cities. When the football game begins, approximately 107,000 fans can be found dressed in blue and white and cheering on their Nittany Lions. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss — don’t forget to buy tickets and a parking pass in advance.
“Lurking in the Shadows” by photographer Joe Bodkin.
“Lurking in the Shadows” is available in the following size: 8×10, 11×14, and 16×20.
Unframed images come in a white mat and shrink wrapped for protection. Each framed image includes double mats, glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany, cherry, or walnut frame.
Nittany Lion Mascot by Minimalist Artist S. Preston is a digital print enhanced on matte paper. All art posters measure 11×17 in size. Framing options are available in mahogany, walnut, black or cherry.
About the print:
The Nittany Lion traces its origins to 1907 graduate Harrison D. “Joe” Mason. Before a baseball game against Princeton in 1904, Mason and other members of the University’s baseball team were shown a statue of Princeton’s Bengal tiger, which the Princeton students claimed was “the fiercest beast of them all.”
In recalling the moment four decades later at the Nittany Lion Shrine dedication, Mason said, “An idea came to me, and I replied, ‘Well, up at Penn State we have Mount Nittany right on our campus, where rules the Nittany Mountain Lion, who has never been beaten in a fair fight.’”
In the coming decades, the Nittany Lion evolved to become “the symbol of Penn State’s best,” appearing not only at athletic events, but at celebrations, fundraisers and outreach efforts on campus and in the local community. In June of 2019, Penn State’s Nittany Lion was officially inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame on June 16 in Whiting, Indiana.
The Nittany Lion was one of four mascots enshrined over the weekend, including Tommy Hawk from the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawk, Benny the Bull from the National Basketball Association’s Chicago Bulls and Sluggerrr from Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals. (Courtesy: Penn State News)
“Lion at the Museum” is available on archival, heavy weight paper. Image sizes are 11×14, 16×20, 30×221/2, 30×40 and 36×48. Please call the gallery (814)237-3442 for pricing of the image on stretched canvas.
“Pubs of Happy Valley” by Brian McElevey will put a smile on any Penn Stater’s face. “Pubs” depicts all the bars and clubs of State College in a fun cartoonish style. This is the finishing touch for any “man-cave.”
“Pubs of Happy Valley is 18″ x 24” in size.
Unframed images are shrink wrapped for protection. Each framed image includes glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany, cherry, or walnut frame.
“Late nights, early mornings for four years while attending Penn State, State College became my “second home”. Photographing my alma mater Penn State (’93 BS AgEcon) not only captures memories for myself but also provides a way to share the beauty of a campus and the town that shaped many of us. Throughout the growth and changes, the iconic sites can always rekindle a memory, a laugh and even a friendship. We Are…”
“Passing the Secrets” is by photograper Joe Bodkin.
“Passing the Secrets” is available in the following size: 8×10, 11×14, and 16×20.
Unframed images come in a white mat and shrink wrapped for protection. Each framed image includes double mats, glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany, cherry, or walnut frame.
About the Artist:
As an artist, Tom Mosser is always looking around for ideas. In the alleyway dumpster near his studio a discarded tire became a paintbrush to get tread marks on his canvas.
“That’s how I ended up painting with balls,” said Mosser, a Pittsburgh-based painter and muralist whose work appears in sports venues across the country. “If you look around and ask, ‘How can I make art in a different way that hasn’t been done before?,’ you start rolling tires or balls across a canvas and you’re creating art.”
“I don’t think anyone in the history of mankind has demonstrated painting with old basketballs,” said Mosser with a hint of sarcasm, acknowledging there’s no such thing as an original thought but that no other artists that he is aware are painting with tires, balls and shoe bottoms.
Many of Mosser’s clients are professional sports organizations. Using footballs to apply the paint, Mosser completed seven paintings for U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where Super Bowl LII was played in February. He also contributed 36 pieces to Prudential Arena, home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, including a 200-foot-by-30-foot mural that is believed to be the largest interior mural in the world.
Inspired by an Andy Warhol quote, the theme of Mosser’s talk at A & I is “ideas,” in that everything that people do is an idea, whether that’s what to eat for breakfast, a shot selection in tennis or, in Mosser’s case, how to create art.
“Ideas and art are all around, you just have to look,” Mosser said. “The idea of looking around you and finding something completely fresh and new, if you do that, stuff happens.”
Mosser is no stranger to engaging audiences or the sports world. From 1990-97 he was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ mascot, the Pirate Parrot, before becoming a full-time, self-employed artist, commissioned for fine art as well as working with commercial clients.
In addition to his sports murals, some of his most successful commissions include “A Golden Retriever at the Museum,” a depiction of his dog, Lucas, staring at a still life painting of a tennis ball, a painting that Mosser said changed his life.
He’s sold nearly 400 prints of the “Museum Series” including 100 in the first five weeks after an image of the first painting went viral. Mosser donated $100 per print to charities including the Animal Rescue League. He has since created other iterations of the painting, including a pink tennis ball for breast cancer awareness.
Mosser has also left his mark in Pittsburgh, where he moved after graduating from Penn State University and growing up in Huntingdon. The mural “The Two Andys,” created in 2005 with Sarah Zeffiro and located on the side of a downtown building on Strawberry Way in Pittsburgh, is a playful reimagining of city icons Andy Warhol and Andrew Carnegie sitting side-by-side in a beauty salon under hair dryers while getting makeovers.
Mosser hopes his appearance at A & I will inspire artists as well as anyone else with ideas to pursue.
“It’s not a question of whether people have good ideas, it’s whether or not they act on them,” Mosser said. “You don’t have to make a living as an artist, but you can still have creative thinking in your life.”
About the Original:
Large heavy weight canvas. Each original is unique and signed by the artist. Watch Tom paint the lion
“Lion Meets Lion” is by photographer Steve Manuel.
“Lion Meets Lion” is available in the following sizes: 8×12, 11×17,16×24, and 26×44.
Unframed images come in a white mat and are shrink wrapped for protection. The unframed 26×44 comes rolled in a tube. Each framed image includes double mats, glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany, cherry, or walnut frame.
***Please Note: Although we try to keep the Plak Mounts in stock they do sell quickly. If we are out, it does take 4-6 weeks for us to replenish our supply.***
As an artist, Tom Mosser, is always looking around for ideas whether it be at a home depot, at a Pep Boys, at sporting good store, or in the alleyway dumpster near his studio.
Says Tom, “The Andy Warhol Museum is a 4-mile straight shot from my studio on RT. 28 here in Pittsburgh. I go there several times a year. I’ve watched a PBS documentary about him over 50 times. The little Andy on my shoulder is always asking me ‘How can I create art in a way that hasn’t been done before? How about painting with balls, tires and sneakers. These items all leave unique imprints and are perfect for creating logo treatments especially.”
Tom feels that virtually everything that people do is inspired by an idea, whether it’s what to eat for breakfast, a shot selection in tennis or, in his case, how to create art. Says Tom,”Take sports. Every shot and strategy in a tennis match are based on micro ideas. Basketball moves and strategy are all micro ideas. Golf strategy is immersed in creative thought. The very core of all sports and strategy is based on creativity. Ideas and acting on those ideas are the foundation.”
He continues, “Andy said ‘Art is are all around us.’ and that’s true. But more importantly so are great ideas. The idea of looking around ourselves and finding something completely fresh and new. If you do that, if you say, paint with a Penn State football, stuff happens. Something completely fresh and creative, happens. Shooting for for those elusive original or semi-original thoughts should always be a goal.”
Arena art galleries.
Tom has worked with Sports & the Arts (www.sportart.net) since 2007. SATA is the nation’s premiere arena curating company. Through SATA Tom has created work for arenas such as Amway Center (Orlando), Prudential Center Arena (Newark), Lambeau Field (Green Bay), Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara), US Bank Stadium (Minneapolis), Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee) and most recently at the Golden Warriors’ new Chase Center Arena in San Francisco. Work created with his theme of painting with sports balls are now display at 6 arenas including an 18’ x 11′ painting at the Milwaukee Buck’s Fiserv Forum that was created with one Spalding basketball.
Working with SATA again,Tom and his team, created the largest interior mural in the world at Prudential Center in 2007. (30ft x 200ft) Says Tom, “Suite hallways at these big arenas and stadiums have tons of wall space just begging for art. I created a pretty eclectic array of work through SATA for the stadiums like landscape oriented work, sports action art as well as local history themed art. I also create a lot of logo themed work in various themes for these projects. What better way to create a Minnesota Vikings logo painting than with an actual Vikings football?”
A Painting of a Golden Retriever goes viral and changes an artist’s life.
In addition to his sports murals, some of his most successful commissions include his “Museum Series” that was kicked off in 2013 by the creation of his viral “A Golden Retriever at the Museum” painting. (Facebook page: (1) Tom Mosser’s “A Golden Retriever at the Museum” Series | Facebook) The painting and the series that it inspired literally changed his life and inspired 10 follow-up pieces and limited edition prints. Prints sales through Almart Fine Art Publishing (www.popandfineart.com) of the series have raised nearly $50,000 for a variety of rescue groups around the world. The series is ongoing and Tom does take commissions from dog loving clients to depict their pooches in the iconic pose.
Tom gives new meaning to face time.
Inspired by the scale of the work of artist Chuck Close, the technique of Jackson Pollock the color palette of Andy Warhol and the drawing style of Bernie Fuchs, Tom has developed his iconic portrait theme he appropriately calls: “Really Big Faces”. Using his signature “Flow” and “Loop” techniques, the portraits measure 58” x 68”. Tom has been creating works for his fall 2021 show for over a year now. He hopes to create over 60 portraits for the event.
The subjects initially included an eclectic array of Pittsburghers including friends and some local celebrities. But the tone took on a different look when the pandemic struck and forced the postponement of his March show 2020. Says Tom, “Since then I’ve been reaching out to subjects who were effected by Covid in whatever form. I’m especially focused on front-line subjects that include a postal worker, a grocery store worker, health care workers, small business owners, teachers and of course those in the arts while emphasizing diversity.”
Tom concludes, “I want the show to be a celebration of Pittsburgh and our bold rise out of this dark shadow.” (The show’s venue TBA)
Tom does accept commissions for the theme. The commission fee is $6000. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for completion. A 50% up-front fee is requested with the final 50% due following the client’s approval. The client will be updated frequently with progress photos.
Tom’s art goes “Public”
Mosser has also left his mark in Pittsburgh, where he moved after graduating from Penn State University and growing up in Huntingdon Pa. The mural “The Two Andys,” created in 2005 with Sarah Zeffiro has become an iconic image of the city. It is located on the side of a downtown building on Strawberry Way in Pittsburgh. It is a playful reimagining of city icons Andy Warhol and Andrew Carnegie sitting side-by-side in a beauty salon under hair dryers while getting makeovers.
An artist. And a mascot.
Mosser is no stranger to engaging audiences for the sports world. From 1989-1996 he was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ mascot, the Pirate Parrot. He had a studio in the south side of the city during that time before becoming a full-time artist in ’96.
-Tom graduated with BFA in Fine Art from Penn State.
-He was a cheerleader his senior year.
-Tom was a member at Phi Kappa Theta fraternity.
Bio courtesy of Artist Tom Mosser
About the Artist:
Megan Elmer is a State College native and a graduate of State College High School. She studied art education at Penn State and taught art in Maryland for many years. Although she studied metal arts in college, she now focuses on painting and illustrating. Her love for her hometown and alma mater inspired the creation of a Penn State coloring book; Color Penn State. Looking for a quieter and more family-friendly town, she and her husband moved back to the State College area in 2005. She currently lives in Bellefonte with her husband, two children, two dogs, and a cat. In addition to keeping up with her busy family, she enjoys teaching art classes, reading, and following PSU sports.
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