RIVERSIDE, Mo. – A local artist is trading in his Christmas decorations and instead paying homage to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Take a drive down Gateway Avenue in Riverside, and it’s hard to miss the 20-foot-tall painting of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Jeff Parson’s front yard.
“I was like, ‘Am I going to do something for Christmas? But you know what? It’s fun being a Chiefs fan now,” Parson said. “There’s an excitement in the air that hasn’t been around in a long time. I mean, you can just feel it talking to people.”
The 52-year-old artist used four large pieces of plywood to create the painting. It took him about a week and a half to complete.
“When you do it in sections, you just pray that it doesn’t look like a Picasso when you put it all together,” Parson said. “You know an eye here and eye here,” he joked as he motioned to different parts of the painting. “But, it fit together pretty good.”
Mahomes won’t be alone for long. Parson is currently in process of painting Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Both paintings will be a fourth the size of Mahomes and will take just a few days to complete.
“You Google ‘future Super Bowl Champions’ and they show up,” Parson added.
Parson, who also happens to be the nephew of Gov. Mike Parson, has been a Chiefs fan all his life but has never painted players at this scale.
Jeff Parson
“Back in the days of Joe Montana, I did quite a few of those and other players here and there, but nothing really like this,” Parson said.
He believes the Chiefs will make it all the way to Super Bowl 53. And if they do, he’s prepared to add even more to his yard painting collection.
“I have plenty of silver paint, so a Super Bowl trophy — it’d be a shame to waste that,” he said while laughing.
Parson plans to work on the Kelce and Hill paintings over the holidays. His goal is to have them done and on display in his yard by the playoffs.
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