June 2014

There is a painting hanging on the wall of Doctor Gary Hall’s eye surgery clinic in central Phoenix. It’s a striking image of his 21-year-old son Gary Hall Jr., the recent winner of two gold medals and two silver in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. The painting by Steve Voita shows Hall Jr. wearing his U.S. swimming team cap and cool sunglasses. His hands are on his hip in a confident, determined, “just-try-and-beat-me” pose. What his father notices most, though, is the pout.

“When you see that bottom lip coming out,” his father says, “you know that he is going to go for it. He’s got that kind of stubborn streak. When I saw that look as he took his position on the starting blocks (before the men’s 4X 100-meter medley relay and the 4X 100-meter freestyle relay), I knew it was over.”

This larger-than-life personality inspired the artist to use intense and vibrant color -reds, oranges, electric blues instead of realistic flesh tones. The imagery better reflects the dynamism of this exceptional athlete.

Steve had the great privilege of meeting Pro Golf great Jack Nicklaus when he created two paintings of him. Nicklaus signed both pieces, one of which was then sold at a fundraiser to generate money for charity.  Steve is an avid sports fan which is what leads him to create images of athletes. He paints what he loves. His knowledge and understanding of multiple sports by actually playing them and also knowing the history of each, lends an authenticity to his work.

From the Arizona Republic — Muhammad Ali may not be able to float or sting anymore, but he still can draw a crowd. Fight Night III, an event that netted $500,000 – some of it going to Parkinson’s research – attracted almost 500 people to tables that went for the high prices of $3,500 to $6,500.

The champ posed for pictures (supposedly $1,000 each), made a few boxing moves and climbed into the ring a couple of limes during the event. The main attraction is celebrity boxing with hugely oversized gloves, but without a personality like Charles Barkley, the fights were a dud.

The real competition was during the auction of an oil portrait of Ali painted by Steve Voita. Jerry Colangelo dropped out of the bidding at around $30,000, and the painting ultimately sold for $75,000; Voita agreed to paint a replica for the same price for the losing bidder.

Steve presents portrait to Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson after their World Series victory.