Artist John Muraswki specializes in boxing paintings and has made a name for himself through boxing web site message boards. This talented painter spoke with BoxingInsider.com about his work, inspirations, and much more. Here are some of his works. Scroll down for our Q&A…
BoxingInsider: What inspired you to start painting boxing?
John Murawski: I’ve had this ability to draw since I can remember. It’s always been a dream of mine to become a recogized, established artist. The hard part is trying to figure out exactly what to create. This is where something called inspriration comes in. Artists are usually passionate people. I cannot go out and paint a landscape and be completely into the process. And with that lack of passion, it is reflected in the art. Now, boxing is something that I’ve loved all my life. It’s simple. My father and my uncles all fought professionally during the depression and I’ve been exposed to the sport all my life. It’s in my blood, so to speak. So I guess it was only natural to use my talent to express myself throught tremendous boxing action images.
BoxingInsider: Favorite subjects from boxing?
John Murawski: Well, being Polish and with all the young Polish boxing talent coming up and the success of Tomasz Adamek, I’d be very happy doing nothing but artwork of them as we follow their careers. But other than that, I can’t say I have a “favorite” subject from boxing. It’s all in the composition. I just can’t paint any boxing image. It has to be special. And when I see that special image, it hits me like a tons of bricks. There is no question about it, its just something that I have to bring to life.
BoxingInsider: How long does each painting take about?
John Murawski: That’s something I don’t like to think about. It’s like a journey of a 1000 miles, it begins with a single step. You have to be diligent and show patience. If you get anxious, bad things start to happen. On average, I’d say most take about 40 hours. The one I just completed of Bernard Dunne was complicated because of all the people in the crowd and that was a 65 hour ordeal. But it was well worth the effort!
BoxingInsider: Tell us about some of your commissions?
John Murawski: Presently, I don’t have a website. Thats something I’ve got to take care of fast. I chat on Eastsideboxing.com and started showing some of my paintings there. My first commission was from a Polish mate in San Fransico, who wanted a painting of Tomasz Adamek vs Thomas Ulrich. After that, the rest is history. People from Rhode Island, Virginia, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and even Hong Kong contacted me with their requests. For the record, I live in New Jersey. Shipping isn’t that bad. For an 18″ x 24″ oil painting on canvas, the mos expensive shipping cost was about $55.
BoxingInsider: How old are you and where do you live?
John Murawski: Time goes by way too fast, as my dad used to say. I’ll be 57 in September and I have lived in New Jersey all my life. Hopefully, that will change someday.
BoxingInsider: What was your training and art schooling experience?
John Murawski: I consider myself a self-taught artist. I graduated from West Virginia University in 1974 with a degree in Fine Arts. They didn’t help much there. After college, I did teach oil painting for 12 years at a local adult evening school at a near by high school. That was a learning experience which actually helped me learn alot about the correct basic fundementals of painting.
BoxingInsider: Do you have any other closing comments?
John Murawski: Yes…What can I paint for you, Scoop?! I think I’ve said enough already and would like to thank you for this opporunity to talk about my artwork. Now I’ve got to get that brush back in my hand. I’ve got work to do!
If anyone is interested in contacting John regarding his artwork, he can be reached at jetskimurawski@yahoo.com.
See more of John’s artwork on his blog at http://myartnsoul.blogspot.com/.