'Hawkeye expressionism'

Jeff McNutt called me out of the blue, told me his story and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

This is a former Herky mascot (1987-88) who graduated from Iowa with a business degree, set off to pursue his love of painting, got into the Iowa's graduate painting program but not as a masters of fine arts student  -- "I just thought, 'I came here to learn how to paint, I hold my own with these people, I'm just going to leave and no one's not going to buy my work because I didn't get an MFA.' -- works as a sales rep for BioTech, is a husband (wife Beth) and father (sons Carter and Sawyer), busted his tail to get his art recognized and gives his art generously to charity auctions.

Believe it or not, McNutt really had to work to get his paintings recognized and, yes, sell a few.

He went to the UI folks in charge of the new press box and wanted to give them his work. They said no thanks because if you hang yours, we've got to hang everyone's. Sound logic. A year later, people were buying McNutt's work and hanging them in their suites at Kinnick.

Plus, there's the story on how he got the Kinnick Stadium brick, bleachers and metal recyclables.

When McNutt's work was auctioned at Nate Kaeding's charity golf event, UI officials took notice. The painting was colored with a little crushed brick from Kinnick and the frame was wood from bleachers that once held fans in Kinnick.

When the old Kinnick press box was demolished in 2005, the light bulb went off.

"I had enough art background to get material and just do something." McNutt said. "I didn't think, 'I'm going to crush brick and do this and whatever.'  There's something there, I'm not sure what it is."

UI officials wondered where McNutt got his materials. He simply asked Peterson Contractors, the company that handled the demolition, if he could recycle all the stuff they were taking to the dump into art.

They said sure.

"I have enough of a corporate background to know that you cover your rear-end on documentation," McNutt laughed. "I talked with Peterson Contractors and had it all laid out. The UI said, 'You got us, but now we know you, Hawkeye artist.' "

Of course, McNutt is a licensed artist by the UI.

His work is front and center at this week's FryFest. He painted the Hayden Fry portrait. He donated the work, only requesting a few prints.

The painting above was auctioned this summer at Nate Kaeding's charity golf event. It went for $11,500.

Jeff doesn't have a website, at least not yet. I told him that might be a good idea.