By Tom Hoffarth
The Spanish word is known as “duende.”
“It’s the moment a piece of art connects to your soul, with emotion or a response,” says S. Preston. “There’s no English word for it. But it’s fun to see it happen.”
His baseball minimalist artwork, available at his Anaheim studio as well as his website — www.sprestondesigns.com — is where things happen.
We have a profile of S. Preston at the Los Angeles Times, and in it, some loyal customers talk about what his art has meant to them.
Those include:
Kari Steele, a USC graduate in Phoenix working as local ABC digital sports reporter, said the art “evokes a nostalgic response for baseball fans like myself. … I love his work so much I want to decorate my future kids’ rooms with it.”
Julie Alexandria, a former Fox Sports regional network reporter for the Mets, Nationals and Padres — see the video below — said buying the Angels’ Big A halo piece as a gift for her brother seemed to give him an edge in the girlfriend vetting process.
“He put it up on the wall in his apartment and he said he knew if a girl came over and pointed it out – realizing it was the Big A and not just some red mountain peak – then she was a true fan,” Alexandria said.
In Southern California, pieces focused on Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium are complimented by ones on the L.A. Coliseum and Rose Bowl, which are included in NFL and college football stadium series. He also has an Ebbets Field drawing from his 30 “heritage” ballparks collection.
While S. Preston rarely draws characters, he did so for nearby Fullerton resident Tommy Lasorda, recreating the incident some 30 years ago where the former Dodgers’ manager walloped the Phillie Phanatic mascot in Philadelphia. Lasorda was so impressed to get the original as a gift, he signed 20 copies of it that continue to sell at the gallery.
“I think he appreciated the fact that I drew him pretty thin,” said S. Preston.
A tribute to retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully with an old-style microphone on field of blue is also a popular 14×20 print.
His most popular piece lately? He capitalized on the Washington Capitals’ championship, showing a Stanley Cup reflecting in the water off the Washington Monument.
That’s duende.