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thePeorian.com
As
a life-long Peoria
area resident,
Tom Gross had no
intentions of living elsewhere. He
loves it here. But he does seek to
find other painting possibilities
and to satisfy that “boyish adven-
turous side” by traveling across
the United States and beyond in
his spare time.
Gross began his career painting
cityscapes, a subject matter that
released his creative drive and at
the same time, brought out the
emotion from viewers and poten-
tial buyers. As he so avidly states,
“
What is art, but the search for
an emotional connection between
the artist and the viewer?”
His first acrylic paintings were
of local Peoria scenes and were
widely accepted by galleries in
the area. When the opportunities
to travel came his way, Gross was
able to capture sites from around
the country, documenting in
paint a changing America.
It was on one of his trips that
he felt the creative urge to paint
ballparks. On his return to Peoria,
he attended a minor league game
in his own backyard and became
spellbound with the scene of the
city behind the outfield wall.
He soon learned that people
from all walks of life are really
passionate about baseball and
the parks in which the game is
played. So as fate would have it,
his life goal is to paint all Major
League ballparks from foul pole
to foul pole. To date, he has done
paintings of ballparks that are
home to the Cubs, Cardinals, Gi-
ants, White Sox, Yankees, Brew-
ers and Red Sox.
Seven down, 23 to go.
For all you Cub fans, Gross has
painted two versions of Wrigley
Field — one of the ballpark and
the other of the world famous
marquis outside of historic Wrig-
ley Park. The original ballpark
painting has been sold, but there
are 20x68 prints available for
$195.
For St. Louis Cardinal fans,
Gross has also painted two ver-
sions. One is of the old Busch
Stadium. This original painting
is 72x24 and is available for pur-
chase for $1,500; prints on canvas
stretched over hardboard panels
are 32x9 and sell for $40 plus
$7.50 for shipping.
The new Busch Stadium ver-
sion has sold, but canvas prints
are available.
Gross estimates that it takes
between 60 to 70 hours to paint
one ballpark. Although he tries to
limit painting a different ballpark
to two a year, the demand from
fans for their ballpark paintings
can be overwhelming. “You just
never want to disappoint a base-
ball fan,” he said.
So that he doesn’t paint himself
into a corner, Gross also paints
very pedestrian views of things
like gas meters, manhole cover
and parking meters. Famous
neon signs and theater marquees
are also a subject for diversion
from painting ballparks.
Tom Gross is a devoted
family man who enjoys
painting Major League
ballparks, being “stranded
on a Carnival Cruise Line”
and eating sesame-seared
tuna at Seven in Peoria
Heights.
By Cathi Hawkinson
Continued on page 58
