As a lifelong baseball fan, after attending art school it seemed natural to combine my love for art with my passion for baseball. My background in fine art, illustration, and graphic design helped lead me to create the collages of baseball cards that I've become known for. Over the past nearly 20 years I've worked with many collectors, from average baseball fans, to professional athletes, as well as professional sports teams and major corporations. I've had pieces exhibited in galleries, private residences, professional baseball stadiums, corporate offices, museums and even have a picture hanging in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York.
My studio in San Diego is filled with boxes and boxes and even more boxes of baseball cards. My collection/inventory of baseball cards includes cards from the 1950s to the latest releases. It takes countless cards to create each picture (you're welcome to try to count, I've never tried) and I try to incorporate as much variety into each piece as possible. I only use original major league baseball cards (unless a special request is made) and I always try to never use the same card twice in the same piece.
Tony Gwynn was a big fan of my work. Seen here at the Hall of Champions with the first jersey replica I created. He laughed and laughed (as only Tony could) as he talked about all the teammates from his past and all great (and some NOT so great) baseball cards I used to make this piece
Phil Niekro seen here at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I never got to meet him, but I heard he loved the jersey and the walk down memory lane that all the cards of his and his teammates inspired. He sure looks happy in this pic
My name is LaVern Brock
I’ve always had an appreciation for art, from the cartoons I grew up watching (nothing better than classic Looney Tunes) to the Old Masters that I studied in art school. But even though I loved the art, I was never really able to connect emotionally with anything in particular the way I'd seen people do in galleries and museums. I'd hear people say things like "I can feel what the artist was trying to say" or "this piece really touched me" or "that piece really stirs up emotion in my soul". That has never really been my experience.
Art is very subjective, and personal tastes vary greatly, but who would you rather hang out with, a group of people drinking beer and eating peanuts and hot dogs while talking about baseball and looking at baseball cards or a group of people drinking over priced wine, eating some strange cheese you've never heard of and discussing things like "why the artists used that particular shade of blue"? I'm not saying one is better than the other, just different.
People often overlook the beauty and artistic qualities of baseball cards. The wide variety of styles, the (sometimes) beautiful graphics, the amazing photography, the varieties of uniforms and often entertaining personal styles that have changed over the years (seriously, what were some of those guys thinking?)
Beyond the beauty of the cards, is all the great information ON the cards that helped make collecting baseball cards so exciting. Batting averages, and E.R.A.s and stats showing how careers went up and down, and trivia and a wealth of other information. Baseball, more than any other sport, is a game of numbers, and nothing brought those numbers to life like baseball cards did, and still do. Baseball cards have a unique way of making history interesting and fun, and my pictures have a unique and fun way of showcasing all that information.
I may have never really connected emotionally with a piece of art (probably like a lot of people) but as I've seen over and over, people that you would think could never be inspired by art, can become very passionate when it comes to my pictures. Memories of championship victories, of streaks and collapses. Seeing cards of favorite players and long lost childhood heroes. Discussions about best pitchers, greatest hitters, who was better at this or that.
Baseball, with all the history and memories, both good and bad, can touch people in ways that landscape paintings or watercolors or weird abstract pictures don't. I can't imagine any art gallery discussion being as heart felt as people talking about the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, the historic Yankees vs Red Sox rivalry, the storied tradition of the Cubs, the designated hitter, STEROIDS, or even... Bill Buckner.
I’m very happy to share my love of baseball and art with you, and look forward to the possibility of creating something that will help YOU share some of your passions and memories. Wether it's in your home, office, or business, hanging one of my pictures on your wall is guaranteed to bring joy and excitement, inspire memories and questions and discussions and hugs and fights all the other great things that our National Pastime has always brought us, and hopefully always will.