HAYDEN FRY
On the day of Fry Fest, Hayden was scheduled for several things. I was lucky enough to have a signing of my painting as the first order of business for the day. When Hayden came into the boardroom signing, he greeted me, and walked right by me to the painting. You can see him in this photo laughing because he couldn’t believe a guy that looks like one of his football players painted his portrait.
After my signing with Hayden, he went into the next room to do a press conference. It was great to see him talk about creating the tiger hawk and honored he mentioned me as I was tucked in the far back of the room.
In 2009, I was asked to be the artist for the first Fry Fest to honor legendary Iowa Football Coach, Hayden Fry. I painted “Game Face” because when I think of Hayden Fry, I think of the commander hat, the sunglasses, and a look of determination at the beginning of a Hawkeye football game. In my paintings, I try to put something of historical relevance in my work. In Game Face, I used my palette knife to make marks in Hayden’s hat to honor his famous saying “Scratch where it itches”. I also put a very pink stripe on Hayden’s left jaw line to commemorate his addition to the visitor’s locker room color. When discussing the painting, Hayden loved the scratch where it itches reference the most. He was so excited that he pointed it out to his wife Shirley, and shared with me that “Scratch where it itches” was his cell phone message greeting. It was a great honor to have a roll in this event.
©2011 Jeff McNutt. All rights reserved.
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