Sports Artist Spotlight: Melysa Gorlicki

August 24, 2021

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Melysa Gorlicki can’t remember a time when she wasn’t drawing something.

“As a child my parents would leave me for hours with nothing but a coloring book and crayons,” the Canadian artist says. “I would draw everything from my dinosaurs to mountains to teacups.

“You can tell I grew up in a time before iPads.”

But as she grew older, her skills improved and she had moved into pencils and paints. In high school, the art teachers were so impressed with her skill level that they asked her to assist teaching fellow students certain concepts like perspective and how to blend colors.

But it was after high school that Melysa really began taking art as a serious career. “I started putting up some of my paintings in various restaurants and clubs (my fake ID came in handy), and I sold my first painting when I was 16 for $500 at Revival nightclub. I have no idea where that painting is today but would love to see it. You have to appreciate that this was before the internet so I was really just hustling around the city handing out my business card to anyone who seemed like they might be interested.”

In time, Melysa became interested in live painting, where she and others would paint alongside DJs as they played house music. “I was just happy to merge my love of music with my love of painting,” she says.

“Before I knew it there was a great demand for what started out as a personal form of artistic expression/collaboration with DJ’s and musicians.”

In 2017, at the suggestion of a friend, Gorlicki began drawing athletes and set up a booth at the Toronto Sports Card Expo, and her works were a hit. She sold out of everything before the weekend was over, and one of the major dealers commissioned her to create 10 card paintings for his home.

Her favorite piece she has created “would have to be the T206 Honus Wagner,” she says. “Not only is it the most famous card but it also happens to look great as a painting and has a timeless feel to it. I particularly love the expression on his face.

“It was also the first sports card painting I sold!”