Newhouse News Service

Tennis icon Martina Navratilova, left, and artist Juraj Kralik use tennis balls, paint and canvas to create artworks in New Orleans' City Park. (Photo by Danny Bourque)

c.2008 Newhouse News Service

NEW ORLEANS — Tennis legend Martina Navratilova conducted a demonstration this week at the City Park Tennis Center. But it wasn't the kind of demonstration one would expect.

Navratilova was creating art. She and partner-in-art Juraj Kralik have invented a method for making abstract paintings by hitting paint-soaked tennis balls against clay- and grass-coated canvases.

But the method is not without its faults.

Ricochets can be a problem, Navratilova said. Once in a while, the paint-coated tennis balls rebound unexpectedly, putting colored splotches on her clothes. Then, her tennis racket can get heavy with paint, since she sometimes hits thousands of paint-bearing balls to complete one canvas. And her sunglasses and jewelry always wind up speckled with color.

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