Local artist creates paintings to commemorate 2019 championship

It began with a heartbreaking loss in Game 3 of the 2019 Western Conference Finals.
The St. Louis Blues fell in overtime and were down 2-1 in the series against the San Jose Sharks - thanks to what many fans argue was a hand pass by Sharks forward Timo Meier.
Meier seemingly batted the puck over to defenseman Erik Karlsson, who scored the game winner in front of a raucous crowd at Enterprise Center.
The emotion of that game inspired local artist - and lifelong Blues fan - Kyle Lucks to take on a new challenge.

"The city shook with anger and rage after that - we were down 2-1. I woke up the next morning, and just had this energy of 'I want to turn this around,'" Lucks told stlouisblues.com. "I believe in good kharma, I believe in directing positive energy, so I said 'You know what? Let's paint (Jordan) Binnington. He had a good game (that ended badly), so let's channel it in right behind the back of the goalie.'"
"I painted on the first thing I could find, which was a 4x4 piece of wood that was leaning against the wall, and started looking around online and found an image of the side of his helmet," Lucks continued. "It was an idea I've had for a while - really highlighting a goalie's helmet - because it's its own piece of art. It's kind of an artwork within the artwork, and I knocked out this painting of Binnington, posted it right before Game 4, and we won. I was like 'Oh, cool that worked.'"

As the team continued to pick up speed en route to its historic championship, Lucks continued his series of Blues paintings, working on a different player for every Playoff game. His work drew some national attention -- NHL Network aired a segment on his pieces during the Stanley Cup Final.
This attention - as well as the Blues' success on the ice - motivated Lucks to keep painting, creating 11 pieces in total during the legendary Cup run. Lucks created a painting after Games 4, 5 and 6 of the Western Conference Finals, and each of the seven games of the Stanley Cup Final were memorialized with a painting, too. Along with his original painting of Binnington, Lucks painted Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, David Perron, Colton Parayko, Ryan O'Reilly, Pat Maroon, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo, Blues legends Barclay and Bobby Plager, and Head Coach Craig Berube.
Prior to the Cup run, Lucks calso created a painting of St. Louis Arena, commonly known as the Checkerdome, to retroactively include with his series.
Six pieces portraying current Blues - Binnington, Schenn, Tarasenko, Perron, Parayko and Berube - will be on display at Enterprise Center during the April 19 game against the Boston Bruins, who the Blues beat to claim their first championship. Tuesday's game will mark the first time Boston has visited St. Louis since that night.

All six of these paintings on display Tuesday will be autographed by their respective likenesses and available in auctions held over the next few weeks leading into the Playoffs, beginning on April 18 with the Binnington and Tarasenko portraits. A portion of the auction's proceeds will benefit Blues for Kids, with the remaining five paintings - the O'Reilly painting having previously been sold - auctioned off at various Blues for Kids events throughout the next year.
The first auction will open online at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 18 and close at 9 p.m. following Tuesday's game. Fans can view the auction by visiting blues.givesmart.com or texting 'blues' to 76278.
Each painting represents a specific game, a specific emotion, a specific moment that gives viewers a chance to relive that historic Playoff run. In Lucks' typical energetic style, the paintings breathe with character and life, capturing the emotion within the moment.
"The whole idea was to have it be a little faster, with a little more intuition and energy from the previous game - and from having a deadline of the puck dropping the night of the next game," Lucks explained. "They can look at this painting and remember where they sat, how much beer was spilled on them and tell the grandkids everything. All that kind of stuff is what drives me as an artist."

Lucks viewed the series as almost merit-based, following the games and highlighting important moments and players as they arrived. Glued to his TV to witness his team prove itself on the biggest stage in hockey, Lucks watched every second of the Playoffs and scoured the Internet for the right reference images to best immortalize the players on his specialized canvas.
"With (each) painting, I can tell a story," Lucks says. "It has drips, it has imperfections, it's handmade - I think people really appreciate that - and it's truly one of a kind. I work in a style that I couldn't replicate if I tried - there's just too much improvisation and letting the paint do its thing. Ten different people could ask for the same photograph, and all ten paintings would look different."
Fans can see the paintings in person and meet Lucks at the Blues for Kids section outside of Portal 15 at Tuesday's game.
More information on Lucks and his artwork can be found at
kylelucks.com
.