Monet and Renoir would be proud

Not that I'd confuse any of the Tampa hounds and dealers as USF art majors, but their recent use of painting canvases has me wondering whether we're in the midst of an Impressionism renewal.

Over the past few weeks, I've seen an increased use in 16x20 or 18X24 canvases, prestretched onto frames, as receptacles for autographs.

And, believe it or not, they're not using just blank canvases.

The artists within -- regular Claude Monets and Pierre-Auguste Renoirs, if you ask me -- are painting the canvases in a solid color -- as in black for Boston, red for Carolina and orange for Philadelphia -- and then slapping a team logo -- usually a sticker -- in the middle.

Once finished, it becomes an easy object to sign that, much like a no-brainer team stick or jersey, requires no effort by a hound/collector to learn the identities of players.

In a sense, it's kind of cheesy. Then again, it's kind of cool. Either way, it's something different and I have to give them points for originality and creativity.

All in all, though, I'll stick with my pucks.