McFarland molds his art for national stage

Throughout his baseball career, Blake McFarland has become accustomed to pressure situations. What faced him in December, however, was something entirely different.
A right-hander in the Blue Jays system, McFarland has a 4.13 career ERA and 40 saves in 179 appearances over five Minor League seasons, but the 28-year-old California native is more than a man throwing a baseball for a living.
"It all started in my parents' house," McFarland said. "They had this little koi fish painting in one of the rooms of the house, and I told my mom one day -- this was when I was in junior college, so I was 18 years old or so -- I told her, 'This painting kind of sucks. I could do something way better than this.'"
That same day, McFarland started painting. Since then, his artistic skills have branched out to include a host of different mediums, including wine corks and the material that landed him on another national sports stage this week: tires.
Yes, tires. The hurler was commissioned by Goodyear, title sponsor of the 81st annual Cotton Bowl Classic, to make sculptures of the mascots of Monday's participants -- the Western Michigan Broncos and Wisconsin Badgers. It was a project years in the making.

McFarland spent 18 days working on the mascots of the Western Michigan Broncos and Wisconsin Badgers. (Goodyear)
"I was driving by this little children's playground, and there were a bunch of tires spread out," McFarland said of his inspiration three years ago. "It looked like it was supposed to be some kind of serpent or dragon design. From there, I just kind of thought to myself, 'This is a material that's not really used, and I can get it for free at recycle plants and old auto body part shops,' and I just went from there. It was very, very random."
Signed by Toronto as a non-drafted free agent in 2011, McFarland pursued his climb up the organizational ladder in the springs and summers and filled his falls and winters with his other passion: creating art.
"[Baseball] kind of sets up perfectly for being an artist as well because [I've got] six, seven months of baseball and then I have a whole offseason to do art," he said.
After his third season with the Jays, McFarland started working with tires, molding what once transported people from place to place into creations that move observers toward experiencing a unique art form.
"It's a lot of trial and error, honestly," he said. "I worked with a variety of different tires, kind of figured out how to cut them. I found out that poultry scissors are the only things that will cut through them. I've tried rotary blades, Sawzalls, all these other tools, and nothing cuts it besides really high-powered scissors. From there, I find a form, and I work around this form."
Using wood screws to secure pieces of tires to those forms, McFarland cuts and molds, sculpts and crafts. The results are stunning -- a stalking jaguar, a roaring bear, a swiping cougar. With each one, he grows as an artist.
"The first sculpture I did, it probably took me around two months to complete, and it was one of the smallest pieces I've done to date," he said. "Now, it would take me a couple weeks."
The opportunity to be creative off the field has long been a sanctuary for McFarland.
"It completely takes your mind off the long season," he said. "After spending seven months where it's just baseball, baseball, baseball every day and every night, I get home and get time to kind of be on my own and just focus on artwork. I can't really describe the feeling. It's almost like when you're pitching and not thinking about anything. It's just relaxation."
This past year was when McFarland needed his alternate world most. The former San Jose State Spartan reached Triple-A for the first time in a terrific 2015, during which he went 3-3 with a 2.06 ERA and 16 saves between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo. He missed the entire 2016 season, however, undergoing shoulder surgery in May, just months after being added to the Blue Jays' 40-man roster.

McFarland make eight appearances with Triple-A Buffalo in 2015 but missed last season due to injury. (Carl Kline/MiLB.com)
"Even going back to college, I haven't been out for more than a week, so when people say it's tough being on the DL, it's crazy tough," he said. "It's really hard to just be sitting in Spring Training facilities rehabbing when all your friends and teammates are out there playing, trying to win games. It did help me. The art did help me get through that because once I do three, four hours of rehab a day, I go home and I have something to fall back on to get me through the rest of the day."
Throughout the year, McFarland continued to hone his craft, and though he didn't know it, people were noticing. Two months ago, he received an email through his artist website from Goodyear. They were interested. After a month of back and forth, a deal was set. There was only one problem.
"We didn't even know who was going to be in the Cotton Bowl, so I didn't know what I was making," he said. "It was a crazy month. I had 18 days to get them completed, and it's kind of crazy to think about because normally I do one sculpture half this size in about a month.
"These are the quickest and biggest piece sculptures I've done to date."
Working in a vacated three-car garage at his parents' house in San Jose, McFarland cranked away at his latest masterpieces with little time to spare.
"The timeline kind of relates to a game, like bases loaded, no one out, ninth inning, honestly," he said. "It was crazy. It was intense at times, trying to figure out how to get these pieces to work within the time frame. There were parts that were hectic, and then there were parts that were just really fun to work with, like trying to get the [Western Michigan] horse's mane and tail together. [Wisconsin mascot] Bucky's sweater was good, as well."
After 18 days of toil in California, McFarland accompanied his work to Dallas, where it was unveiled in pre-bowl festivities on Dec. 29, three days prior to kickoff at AT&T Stadium. The rush was over. McFarland earned the biggest win of his artistic career.
"It does relate, like when you have that relaxation on the mound not thinking about anything," he reiterated.
The next time McFarland has that feeling will likely be back on the diamond. Briefly released to clear his 40-man spot before being re-signed by the Jays in August, he reports this week to Toronto's facility in Dunedin, Florida, to continue rehabbing in preparation for his 2017 return to the mound.