Ted Watts of Oswego, Kansas has virtually painted his way into the forefront of American illustrators with a no-nonsense approach to his favorite subject ... sports.

At Age 27, Watts was unpublished as an artist. Two years later, he opened his own free lance art studio specializing in sports illustrations and drawings prepared specifically for college and university sports information and athletic departments.

His first published work with a sports theme appeared as a regular feature on the sports page of The Coffeyville Journal beginning in November 1970. In May 1971, Watts began "moonlighting" as a free-lance artist from his home studio, producing sports art for collegiate clients. When the demand for his sports art works increased, he left the security of a salaried job to begin his own business.

Today, the 64-year old former football and track athlete from Miami, Oklahoma is considered a pioneer for transforming college sports art publicity from a cartoon dominated market during the mid-century to an illustration art preference on campuses during the last quarter of the twentieth century.

His client list includes the United States Olympic Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and over 150 college and university clients from coast-to-coast. Twenty-six professional sports teams and fifteen national sports publications are included among 250 plus other patrons of Watts' studio over the past 35 years.

His works hang in the College Football Hall of Fame, South Bend, IN; Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, OH; Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA; and USA Wrestling Hall of Fame, Stillwater, OK. Fifteen colleges and universities exhibit permanent collections of his paintings. Replicas of Watts' most noteworthy art are permanently archived by the Kansas Collection in Leonard H. Axe Library on the campus of Pittsburg State University.

In thirty-five years, Watts' sports art production "statistics" are prodigious. He has completed over 6,000 pieces of finished art...over 1,250 cover illustrations (including 65 national award winners), 1,500 display paintings and portraits, 600 posters and calendars, 95 limited edition art prints and three murals.

On August 18, 1996, Watts' art series of 62 past Heisman Trophy winners was unveiled for feature display in the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana. He has updated the series annually. The 2006 Heisman Trophy Winner, Ohio State QB, Troy Smith’s portrait is the latest. It is planned for completion in the spring and will be unveiled in August, 2007 in South Bend in conjunction with the Hall's annual Enshrinement Festival.

Hall of Fame portrait and display painting series have been completed for eleven NCAA Universities: Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Missouri, South Carolina, Oral Roberts, Pittsburg State (KS), Nebraska and the United States Military Academy (ARMY).

His first mural was a 33’ x 9’-6” tribute to Oklahoma Sooners Football, completed in November 1998 and updated in 2002 and 2005. That art is displayed in the Barry Switzer Center at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on the OU campus in Norman. In August 2000, Watts completed an historical mural tribute to TCU Horned Frog Football on display in the John Justin Center on TCU’s Fort Worth, Texas campus. His third (and largest mural), a 78’ x 10’ tribute to Wichita State Baseball was unveiled at Eck Stadium on the WSU campus in Wichita, KS, March 13, 2004.

It is no wonder that Sports Illustrated's Douglas S. Looney said, "On college campuses, Ted Watts is easily the best known sports artist in the land..." in his profile of the Kansan.

Watts was born December 12, 1942 in Anthony, Kansas. He is a 1960 graduate of Miami (OK) High School. He received his AA degree from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami where he studied under famed Oklahoma muralist and lithographer, Charles Banks Wilson. He transferred to Pittsburg (KS) State University in the fall of 1962 to complete his degree requirements for a planned career in the field of art.

Watts graduated from Pittsburg State in January 1966 and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (BFA 1966) that May. He was voted as an Outstanding Young Alumnus of PSU (1976); named a PSU Meritorious Achievement Award winner (1988) and enshrined as a member of PSU's Athletic Hall of Fame (1999). In addition, he is a past president of the Pittsburg State Alumni Association (1982-83) and was a charter member of the PSU Athletic Advisory Committee.

While a senior at PSU, Watts joined the Kansas Army National Guard in 1965. He served on active duty in the US Army in 1966-67 rising to the rank of infantry platoon sergeant E-5 and when deactivated, served in the KARNG until being honorably discharged in January 1972. During this time, Watts worked in the fields of advertising, sales and newspaper production for three Oswego-area companies before opening his own business in May 1972. He gained experience in a variety of art related fields that included: product illustration, architectural rendering, commercial art, graphic design, photography, copywriting, feature writing, printing, newspaper illustration and cartooning.

Watts and his wife, Faye, were married August 26, 1967 and have lived in Oswego all of their married life. They have two sons, Thom and Brad, and one granddaughter, Lily Watts. The artist celebrated 35 years in business May 2, 2007. His studio is located in Oswego’s Blair-Watts Building.