Art inspired by dogs, sports, people — and the unexpected.

Tom Mosser paints dogs.

Tom Mosser paints sports.

Sometimes, Tom Mosser paints with sports balls.

And sometimes one painting takes on a life of its own and changes everything.

Pittsburgh artist Tom Mosser has built a career around curiosity, experimentation and connection. His work has appeared in major sports venues across the country, on city walls, in galleries and private collections — and in the homes of thousands of people who simply fell in love with a dog staring at a painting.

A graduate of Penn State University with a BFA in Fine Art, Tom has never been particularly interested in creating art the conventional way.

Inspiration might come from a museum.

Or a sporting goods store.

Or Home Depot.

Or something sitting beside a dumpster outside his studio.

For Tom, the question is usually the same:

What can I do with this that hasn't been done quite this way before?

That curiosity has shaped an unusually diverse body of work — from his beloved Museum Series to large- scale arena installations, public murals, portraits and his signature Sports Ball Impressionism.

Every Print Tells a Story

Art becomes more meaningful when there's a story behind it.

For Tom, one of those stories began with his Golden Retriever, Lucas.

“The Museum Series”

In 2012, Tom created a painting inspired by a simple image: a Golden Retriever sitting quietly in a museum, staring at a painting of a tennis ball.

He called it “A Golden Retriever at the Museum.”

The image went viral.

What began as one painting grew into Tom's Museum Series, featuring dogs of different breeds and personalities sitting before the object of their fascination.

But the series became something much bigger than Tom originally imagined.

People saw their own dogs in the painting.

They told Tom stories about the Goldens they grew up with, dogs they had recently adopted and beloved companions they had lost. Prints became birthday presents, wedding gifts, memorials and reminders of four-legged family members who had left enormous footprints behind.

That connection continues today.

Tom has expanded the Museum Series to include multiple breeds and custom commissions, allowing clients to see their own dog at the museum.

And along the way, the artwork has helped dogs beyond the canvas.

Art That Gives Back

Giving back has become an important part of the story behind Tom's work. Through print sales, fundraising events, partnerships and donations, Tom's artwork has supported animal rescue organizations and community nonprofits including:

Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies

Adopt a Golden Atlanta

Golden Retrievers in Need Rescue Service

Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Over the years, sales connected to the Museum Series alone have helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for rescue organizations.

A painting can make someone smile. A print can remind someone of a dog they loved. And sometimes that same piece of art can help another dog find a home.

Sports Ball Impressionism

Long before anyone was talking about unconventional painting tools, Tom was asking a different question: Why does a paintbrush have to be a paintbrush? Influenced by artists including Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, Tom began experimenting with the objects associated with sports themselves:

Footballs.

Basketballs.

Baseballs.

Tennis balls.

Sneakers.

Tires.

Instead of simply painting sports, Tom began painting with sports. Tom calls the technique Sports Ball Impressionism. A basketball rolled through paint leaves a completely different mark than a football. A tennis ball creates another texture entirely. Those marks become layers of color, movement and energy — often forming team logos and large-scale abstract compositions. For Tom, the technique brings together two things that have shaped much of his life: art and athletics.

“The very core of sports is creativity. Every shot, every play and every strategy begins with an idea. Art really isn't that different.”

From the Studio to the Stadium

Tom's work has also taken him far beyond the traditional gallery. Since 2007, he has collaborated with Sports & The Arts, creating original artwork for professional sports venues around the country. His work has been commissioned for venues including:

Lambeau Field • Levi's Stadium • U.S. Bank Stadium • Fiserv Forum • Prudential Center • Amway Center and Chase Center.

Many of these installations incorporate Tom's Sports Ball Impressionism technique.

One of the largest examples hangs at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee: an approximately 18-foot by 11-foot painting created using a single basketball. At Prudential Center in Newark, Tom and his team also created a massive 30-foot by 200-foot interior mural.

The scale may have changed dramatically from his studio work, but the philosophy didn't. Find an idea. Experiment. And make something people haven't seen before.

Pittsburgh Roots

Although Tom grew up in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh became his creative home after graduating from Penn State. His connection to the city has taken some wonderfully unexpected turns. From 1989 through 1996, Tom performed as the Pittsburgh Pirates' Pirate Parrot while maintaining his studio and developing his career as an artist.

Yes — seriously. Artist by day. Giant green parrot when necessary.

Tom has since contributed public artwork throughout the region, including “The Two Andys,” created with artist Sarah Zeffiro. The playful Pittsburgh mural depicts Andy Warhol and Andrew Carnegie sitting beneath beauty-salon hair dryers and has become a familiar piece of downtown Pittsburgh's public-art landscape.

Still Looking for the Next Idea

After decades of painting, Tom is still experimenting.That's really the point.

Whether he's standing in front of a giant canvas with a basketball covered in paint or working on the eyes of a Golden Retriever sitting patiently inside an imaginary museum, Tom's work starts with curiosity.

Life Beyond the Studio

Behind the paintings, giant canvases, Golden Retrievers and occasional paint-covered sporting equipment is a life Tom loves just as much as making art.

Tom shares that life with his wife, Mara, his partner in both life and MosserWorks Collective. Their partnership works because their strengths are wonderfully different. Tom is happiest creating, painting, drawing, experimenting and chasing the next idea. Mara brings the organization, communication and business side that helps turn those ideas into something bigger.

Together, they've grown MosserWorks Collective as a true family business — building relationships with customers and retail partners, developing new products, traveling for collaborations and finding new ways to connect Tom's artwork with the people who love it.

And then there are the other two members of the family.

Franco, their Golden Retriever, provides plenty of inspiration — and perhaps a little quality control for the Museum Series.

Eenie, their cat, has yet to officially approve the company's obvious canine bias!

When Tom isn't in the studio, he and Mara enjoy traveling, spending time with family and friends, exploring Pittsburgh and taking Franco along for whatever adventures will accommodate him.