My neighborhood on Long Island was fiercely divided. Neighbors took sides, and this animus bled into the streets… during roller hockey games. You were either an Islanders fan, or a Rangers fan — never both. I was, and remain, the former. During the 2009 season, a familiar name hit the ice — Trevor Gillies. He quickly became a fan favorite, and remained that way, even when the Coliseum faithful found out, he wasn’t, in fact, related to the legend — Clark Gillies.

How did this portrait come to be? During our first summer in Teton Valley, we attended a charity event at Teton Springs. There, I met a gentleman named Michael. As it happens, Erin and I  found out the gender of our third child that evening, so Michael took me to the clubhouse for a celebratory shot of Jam-O. During our chat, I confessed my love for hockey, and he revealed the name of his brother-in-law — Trevor Gillies. And so, the wheels were set in motion…

Here is a look at the entire creative process, in time lapse. The track, Powerful Vibes (feat. Dolio The Sleuth, GR Stone & Stewie), has been provided by MH the Verb… run, don’t walk, to his website and buy his new album — Afronaut… yes, I painted the album cover.

And now… on to the process, with more about the story behind this new painting.

A collage painting begins with an interview… where I learn about the subject, their life, hopes, dreams and story.

With this information, and a stack of personal photos, I build the infrastructure of the piece. In Trevor’s case… the focus is on the 5 F’s… Family, Friends, Fishing, Fighting… and, like OPP, I will let the mind wander on the final “F”.

Now? The underpainting… creating a warm base to make the greyscale pop. Now, Trevor has been known to drop the gloves, and he taught me some incredible things about the rules of engagement, and brotherhood of enforcers.

One great story? Trevor squared off against his friend, Shawn Thornton… toward the end of the fight, Thornton leans in and says, “Trev, my shoulder is out” — and they simply stop. You never go after someone at the end of a shift, and never punch an injured player — Trevor plays by these unwritten rules, and that’s why, despite fighting them professionally, six of his eight groomsman stood by his side on the big day.

Next, I identify the shadows… the identify the key facial elements. I asked Michael what motivated him to commission, this piece, he shared, “Trevor is an incredibly unique person and I really wanted to do something special to help commemorate his career and his commitment both to his teams and his family. When I saw how capable Borbay was of combining these two elements with his collage style portraits I knew it would be a great fit. Truthfully having this painting commissioned wasn’t really on my radar until I spent some time getting to know Jason and understanding how much he would be able to bring to a project like this – far beyond just putting paint on a canvas.”

Now, it’s about going from tone-to-tone, to build the piece. Trevor is about the logo on the front of his jersey, not his name on the back. He loves his family, Danyel, Phenix and Dani Ryanne — more than anything in this world. So… in this composition, Trevor gazes forward, with the collage elements below his right shoulder featuring his hockey career. Over his heart, and protected by his focus, lies photos of his family and friends.

With each tone, the likeness builds… the subtleties of each feature begin to evolve.

And now, we move from the shadows, to the midtones and toward the highlights.

With the face completed, it was time to dial-in to the jersey.

I went for a white wash, nailing down some key folds… while allowing the photos to remain the focal point.

We initially experimented with a red gradient for the background. However, after much deliberation, we decided to keep things in the grey spectrum.

And with that, the portrait was completed! Trevor, it was an absolute pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for sharing so many beautiful stories…

Michael, thank you for the commission — I greatly appreciate your friendship and patronage. Thank you Danyel for helping me with this piece, and for setting up a fabulous reveal. I’m excited to work on a very special collaboration with the South Carolina Stingrays… details to come.

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