Kyle Morrissey is between careers, canvasses, brushstrokes and inspirations, having made the daring leap to become a professional artist on the Angels’ wings and a prayer.

The 35-year-old former Navy serviceman, former hyperbaric chamber operator, former underground utilities inspector and lifelong Angels fan makes his “studio” – he laughs when he uses the word – in the small dining room of his parents’ home in Orange.

He props a hand-me-down wooden easel atop a circular oak table covered by last week’s newspaper. The warm, yellowish, incandescent light of ceiling’s chandelier washes over his latest 22x-28-inch canvas.

On a tray table in front of a credenza crowded with framed family photos, this beefy-armed, shaven-bald man with a mustache sets up a tray table for his artist’s toolbox that houses a half dozen brushes and acrylic paints he mixed beside the bathroom sink.

Then, as he does every day and often deep into the meat of a quiet night, Morrissey – in a T-shirt, baggy titanium white-smudged sweat pants and skateboarding shoes — paints.

He paints Angels, past and present, at a standstill and in the motion of a one-thousandth of a second stay in time. His portfolio includes Rod Carew, Tim Salmon, Torii Hunter, Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick and Nick Adenhart, among many others, each pop-art-styled with Morrissey’s splashes and pools of custom color.

Click through the photos to see Kyle Morrissey’s Addictive Artwork.

On this day, his subject is Angels center fielder Peter Bourjos, sprinting, hustling, turning from third toward home, his mouth slack in a breathless moment, his eyes aslant and checking the action in the outfield.

Bourjos’ rumpled jersey is a mountainous terrain of ridges, cliffs and shaded ravines. The Angel Stadium crowd is a background mosaic of furious shapes, blotched heads weaving, abstract arms and hands waving.

From slab faces come Morrissey’s complex geometry, facets of color painstakingly applied with a steady stroke in a night silent, except for the sound of ESPN “SportsCenter” rerunning on 9-inch TV in the nearby kitchen.

“I’m painting this one for Bourjos and bringing about 20 paintings out to Spring Training for the players,” Morrissey said. “(Ervin) Santana, (Howie) Kendrick and (Erick) Aybar already have my paintings.”

Born in West Los Angeles and raised in Buena Park, Morrissey was artistic as a youth. He attended Cal State Fullerton for a year, planning on pursuing a commercial art degree before enlisting in the Navy.

He hadn’t picked up a paintbrush for 14 years when, in 2007, his fiancée, Heidi Rubio, asked him to create a safari mural for their daughter, Kaylah. That project and a woodblock painting of infant Kaylah rekindled his passion for his art.

A back injury he suffered on the job in 2009 knocked him out of work, leaving him with plenty of time. He remembered what his co-worker friends who had seen his doodles on napkins and scraps of paper while he was on a Naval nuclear submarine, in the Santa Ana hyperbaric clinic or the utility office had said all along: “Why are you here? You should be an artist.”

As a 2010 New Year’s resolution, Morrissey decided to try to make a living as an artist. He launched Addictive Artwork and began painting Warhol-esque representations of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Bob Marley and doing family portraits.

“My art wasn’t really getting out there because I was doing what everyone else was doing,” Morrissey said. “Then Torii Hunter changed everything six months ago.”

Upon hearing that the popular Angels right fielder was doing an autograph signing at an Anaheim Ralph’s, Morrissey pulled an all-nighter to complete the All-Star’s portrait and bring it to the grocery store. Hundreds of Angels fans waiting in line complimented Morrissey’s work, which also caught the Hunter’s eye – and Sharpie signature.

“The response was so incredible that the next day I had a new plan,” Morrissey recalled. “People wanted to buy paintings of the players signed by the players.”

He learned about upcoming Angels’ autograph sessions at the OC Dugout in Anaheim, OC Sportscards in Anaheim Hills and at Angel Stadium. He bought 10 canvasses, brushes and paints from Art Supply Warehouse in Westminster and got to work in his parents’ dining room.

Working from photos, Morrissey painted Santana pointing to the heavens after throwing a no-hitter on July 27, 2011 at Cleveland. He depicted Angels great Salmon holding the 2002 World Series trophy after the triumph. He captured a stalwart Angels phenom Mike Trout swinging into the arc of his first big-league home run on July 24, 2011 at Baltimore.

Morrissey raffled off his autographed Hunter portrait at OC Dugout. He traded his signed Santana commemorative for restoration work on his 1965 Ford Thunderbird. He posted images of the finished works on his Facebook page and players’ fan pages.

Amy Santana, Ervin’s wife, spotted Morrissey’s no-hitter painting on Facebook and called the artist. She commissioned him to do two paintings of photographs that Angels All-Star second baseman Kendrick had taken of Ervin in the clubhouse after the no-hitter.

“Amy Santana got the ball rolling,” said Morrissey, who received $300 for his work. “She told Howie’s wife (Jody Kendrick), who wanted two. Ervin told (Angels Gold Glove shortstop) Erick Aybar, who wanted four.”

Morrissey captured an airborne, split-legged Aybar relaying a throw to first as the twisted baserunner slides beneath him into second, kicking up dirt.

The artist has traded his paintings for memorabilia instead of money, landing two autographed bats and an “HK47” branded Rawlings glove from Kendrick and two signed Louisville Slugger bats from Aybar.

“I couldn’t paint fast enough,” said Morrissey, who visits with his children, Issac, 15, Kaitlyn, 11, and Kaylah, 4, during the day in Stanton and spends most nights in front of his easel.

During the last three months of the baseball season, he became a fixture at Angels events, holding his latest painting high over his head as if they were a boombox. He’d linger near the Dugout Suites before games, attracting players eager to see their acrylic selves.

“When the players saw their paintings, they were like little kids coming over to see them and sign them,” he said. “A lot of guys said they wanted their own.”

All-Star ace Jered Weaver signed Morrissey’s painting at the August press conference at which the Angels announced his contract extension. Slugger Mark Trumbo autographed a painting before a pre-game ceremony honoring him as the Angels MVP. Bourjos inked one during pre-game warmups and asked that Morrissey paint one for him.

Rookie pitcher Garrett Richards put in an order too. Salmon, who signed Morrissey’s painting after his final “Angels Live” broadcast of the season, requested that Morrissey donate a painting to auction at the next Tim Salmon Foundation Golf Classic.

A few days before the new year, Angels third base coach Dino Ebel sent Morrissey an email on Facebook, requesting a painting for his baseball room. Morrissey’s works are now going for $300 apiece.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do before Spring Training,” said Morrissey, smiling, taking a short break in his “studio.”

Between canvasses, brushstrokes and inspirations, Kyle Morrissey, the Angels fan behind this Addictive Artwork, feels the promise of a new season.

Contact the writer: masmith@ocregister.com