Blue Jays ace Cease has artwork, retail collection launched at Art Gallery of Ontario

Meanwhile, there was a lineup of Blue Jays fans, young and old, that stretched almost two blocks.

“It’s pretty mind-blowing to come up and see the line and just see the press,” he said. “It just feels very big in a lot of ways I wasn’t expecting.

“I honestly would have never thought in a million years that I would be doing anything even remotely close to this.”

Cease began painting in 2022 and has done artwork for former San Diego Padres teammate Michael King’s charity. His Toronto piece was framed in Blue Jays manager John Schneider’s office.

“It’s funny, a lot of my teammates will say, ‘Why don’t you paint yourself pitching’ and this and that. And I’m like, ‘You guys know I can’t draw,'” Cease said. “I have to do something extremely abstract because I’m a little limited with my abilities, but I make do with what I have.”

Cease said he was inspired by the idea of spending the majority of his 30s in Toronto. The 30-year-old signed a seven-year, US$210-million contract in free agency this past winter.

“I think it’s cool how the community has grasped onto it and how he’s leaned into it a little bit, added to the wonderful world of Dylan Cease,” Schneider said later in the day at Rogers Centre ahead of Toronto’s game against the Kansas City Royals.

With Cease’s painting removed from his office for the display, a replacement print was posted featuring a few pictures and lines of text – ‘The painting was a gift, Todd’ – from the movie “Wedding Crashers.”

“He did say he would replace it if he ever took it,” Schneider said with a smile. “So, until then, we’ve got Vince Vaughn up there.”

Cease said he’s taken the time to learn about Canadian culture, history and politics — but stopped short of offering a take on the back-and-forth trade war between the U.S. and Canada.

After doing this painting with acrylics, he plans to learn oil painting next. And he’s putting no pressure on himself.

“It really just makes me happy, helps me feel good about life, helps me have something that’s, I guess, opposite from baseball in the sense baseball’s more warlike,” Cease said. “And painting’s more forgiving in the sense, I can just go put whatever I want on there and I’m not having to be perfect. I’m just having fun and enjoying it, so I think it’s helps me balance my life and balance myself in a lot of ways.”

“Ultimately, whether it ends up here or in my bathroom, I’m going to enjoy doing it,” he added.

Cease, who made his big-league debut in 2019, has had an excellent season with the Blue Jays. He has an 8-5 record and 2.37 earned-run average over 24 starts.

He has become the ace of the staff and is expected to be a contender for the Cy Young Award as the American League’s top pitcher.

With files from Canadian Press sports reporter Gregory Strong.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2026.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Blue Jays ace Cease has artwork, retail collection launched at Art Gallery of Ontario

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