As an arts professional, inspiration comes to me in multi-layered and process-driven ways. That means my artmaking begins in my mind and travels into my body, my environment, and my relationship with the tools and techniques I use; unravelling a story and backstory as I create. For me inspiration is found in the process and not always revealed in the end-product. I dedicate this painting to my late father and namesake George Headley Fullerton, who we lost in 2021.

As an abstract expressionist artist, I was challenged by this fan piece commission having not painted a portrait or anything representational since 2017. I was up for the challenge and a great opportunity to showcase my creative growth. Answering the MLSE call to artists, as a fan and former ACAC/CCAA All-Canadian athlete, made me aware of my detachment from the wonder of sport and the euphoria of the win since my varsity days. After an exciting phone call with Tracie Speca from Sports And The Arts, I answered the call to experience both wonderment and winning at art again.

Inspirational details: Bringing The World To Its Feet. Always impacted by expressive words, images, and emotions - the initial detail that inspired my artwork came from the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Corporation’s tagline ‘Bringing The World To Its Feet’. I wanted the fan piece artwork to visually come alive through those branded words.

Inspirational details: Self-Reflection. I began to shape my concept using creative visualization by reflecting on my own athletic years on the court. Smashing the volleyball inside the attack line, high fiving my teammates while reveling in the expression of the fans, witnessing it all! That moment when the athlete or the artist embodies the ‘play’ of who they are – and the fans raising the frequency with their enthusiasm and attention. That’s the energy I wanted to capture in this fan piece.

My days as a top college and university volleyball athlete were some of the best years of my life. My professional direction has always been infused with the process of artmaking, and over the years I’ve combined my arts education with sports training and overall wellbeing. I know what it means to experience and appreciate the devotion of fans as an athlete and the patronage of art lovers as an artist.

Inspirational details: Diversity & Composition. The reactionary movie posters created during the 1970’s for the urban sub-genre of Blaxploitation, served as my compositional inspiration. During this era in cinema and culture, Black artists and actors rose to stardom and left a legacy with a message of Black liberation for the world to see. The dynamic layout and choice of subjects in my painting ‘For The Win And The Wonder’, I envisioned as diverse in expression, color, placement and, ethnicity as those characters from the 1970’s Blaxploitation movies. Having to choose from a library of amazing photographs provided by the MLSE team made the task more enjoyable and collaborative. I chose an indigenous male positioned centrally in the work to represent an elevated symbol for all people indigenous, whether taken from this land, or brought here against their will.

Inspirational details: Scotiabank Arena’s Logo. After working through my layers of “thought” inspiration, I was inspired by the contemporary colors of the Scotiabank arena logo. I integrated the brand colors into the painting by intuitively embodying the energy I wanted to express. The result is a complete abstract painting existing beneath the 22 portraits that viewers will see in the final piece. I purposely left areas of the ‘underpainting’ revealed in parts of the final work of art; such as the pants of the black youth high-fiving, or the upper part of the painting showcasing the logo colors as an abstract background.