Painting in Progress throughout the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. Price is negotiable.
Please email me with purchasing inquiries.
- My dream for this piece is to see it or a version of it on a larger scale, hanging in the halls of the Stead Family Children's Hospital
- My dream for this piece is for it to be a distraction for parents and family of patients at the Stead Family Children's Hospital
- My dream for this piece is to fulfill one of my lifelong goals as an artist, for my art to have a positive impact on others in need.
- The painting is more than just the word (Iowa)
- It has hundreds of words embedded into the background, to encourage viewers to spend time finding them
- All of the words are basketball related, and related to the IWBB 2024 team, and their journey to the NCAA championship.
- One thing that always helps me get out of my head when I am stressed, is to say things that I see....which is what the intention is with all of the words I have hidden into the painting...to help relieve stress and anxiety for whatever the viewer is experiencing at that moment in time
I plan to donate half of the proceeds ($75,000) of this sale to the Stead Family Children's Hospital, and use the other half to help pay for my children's college tuition and build my art practice. Is the price outrageous? Absolutely. Maybe, and I always dream big. If a banana peel duct taped to a wall can sell for $150,000 then why can't this painting? Am I right????
I see this piece as a beacon for all of us who dare to dream big.
It's always been my dream to make a living as a living artist, and to support causes and organizations that are important to me and my family, so this is me seeing it to believe it, and believing it to achieve it.
"This painting is a celebration of the entire Iowa Women's Basketball team, and the background is filled with words and phrases to find during up close viewing.....intended to be a fun conversation piece that reflects the way the 2023/2024 Iowa Women's Basketball Team inspires everyone around them, myself included." - Artist, Marie Stephens
I am an Iowa State Alum (98), and a mother of a Hawkeye, first year student this year (a music major).
I have always, up to this point, been a loyal Cyclone.
However, having a son that goes to Iowa, plus learning more and more about the IWBB team, this year's team has inspired my art with their athleticism, with the way they show up for each other on and off the court, and with way they are inspiring so many young (and older) humans, myself included, to dream big.
Selling this painting is me dreaming big. When it sells, I plan to use the money to help pay for my son's tuition at University of Iowa and fulfill some philanthropic dreams of using my art to support great organizations, like the Stead Family Children's Hospital.
The entire team has inspired me so much that I started creating a painting at the beginning of the NCAA tournament, that I continue to paint on, during and in between each game the Hawkeyes win, and I will keep working on it until the Hawkeyes hopefully win, or are eliminated from the tournament.
This painting was also subconsciously inspired by Ted Lasso's (believe) sign, as the word Iowa was created with tape. The painting is also filled with Easter eggs related to the team, and their journey to their hopeful win of the Championship.
A few Easter Eggs
- imprints of actual Iowa corn and corn husk (cornfetti)
- a background created by dribbling a basketball dipped in paint onto the canvas
- quotes by Coach Bluder
- Jersey numbers with little nuggets like players nicknames, etc
- lines squirted out of a squeezed out of a bottle in the form of the boundary lines of a basketball court
- and much much more
As long as the Hawkeyes have kept winning, I have kept painting.... and I am still painting!
This painting continues to evolve as the Hawkeye Women's Basketball team head to the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament tonight.
With the win against LSU, I've had more days to add a few more Easter eggs and details to this painting!The canvas is getting heavier the more texture and layers I add to it.
