Samantha Woj, seen in this undated handout photo, uses baseball bats, balls and gloves to create paintings of iconic Toronto Blue Jays moments.HO/The Canadian Press
As the Toronto Blue Jays swing their bats for the World Series title, an Ontario artist is using baseball equipment in a unique way to show her support.
Samantha Woj, a longtime sports fan and disabled artist, has swapped out paintbrushes for bats and balls to honour the athletes.
She says she hoped to attend the World Series between the Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but wasn’t able to get tickets. Instead, she is cheering for the team from home by taking her scuffed baseball, well-worn bat and catcher’s glove to the canvas.
Woj describes her work as “sports art.” She starts by dipping her sports tools into paint. Then, she carefully traces them on a canvas to portray iconic moments from the ballpark.
“I literally don’t remember a time not being a fan of the Blue Jays,” she said.
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The artist based in Embrun, Ont., says although she was born with only two fingers on each hand, that has not held her back from practising her craft.
“My two fingers are my superpower because only I can manipulate the material the way I can due to my fingers,” she said. “If it wasn’t for my two fingers, I wouldn’t have been on this journey.”
As the Jays fight their way through the World Series, Woj’s studio walls are becoming filled with paintings, including memorable moments like Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s bat flip after a home run against the New York Yankees and George Springer in a post-homer celebration. She has also painted pitchers Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage.
In her art, she says she tries to only use equipment that the athlete uses in the game. She used a baseball bat and baseball for Springer and Guerrero. For Yesavage and Gausman, she used a baseball glove and ball.
Samantha Woj, seen in this undated handout photo, uses baseball bats, balls and gloves to create paintings of iconic Toronto Blue Jays moments.HO/The Canadian Press
“The Vladdy one was really fun because he hit that home run and I was like, I really want to make that iconic moment where everyone just remembers his bat flip,” Woj said. Luckily, she said she had a large canvas from earlier that she was looking to fill.
Woj says she grew up playing soccer and has been a lifelong sports fan but her journey in sports art only began about five years ago during the pandemic when she injured her ankle while running.
“I couldn’t work out, I was at home and we couldn’t go anywhere,” she recalls. That’s when she jokingly turned to her sister and suggested, “if I can’t physically workout, then I can workout through art.”
What began as a joke quickly turned into Woj’s biggest inspiration and she took to the canvas with a soccer ball and paint.
“I kind of just grabbed a soccer ball and rolled it on the canvas just to see like, what marks can I make with it,” she said. “It came out and I was like, ’Oh, this is actually really cool and really nice.’”
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Her work has since spanned a range of sports, including basketball, hockey, tennis, curling, cycling, skating and more. She even used a wheel to paint an F1 driver.
She usually keeps her paintings or sells them to interested customers, she said, but her skills have also taken her to bigger stages.
Woj has previously collaborated with professional teams, including the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. For both, she did live paintings during the games and even had her work show up on the jumbotron.
While her paint-splattered basketball and hockey sticks have taken her to new highs, Woj’s next big dream is to collaborate with the Blue Jays.
“If I ever got to work with the Blue Jays, it would just be like a full circle moment for Toronto.”
