Blue Jays’ ace Dylan Cease has painting showcased at Art Gallery of Ontario

Every fifth day or so Dylan Cease paints the corner of home plate with a 98 mile an hour fastball as a pitcher for the Blue Jays.

Painting has also spilled over into his free time.

On Tuesday the Art Gallery of Ontario displayed one of his colourful works, Eve of Toronto, and began to sell limited-edition prints, postcards, T-shirts, sweatshirts and totes that include it.

Cease, who is in his first season with Toronto, completed the painting over the course of two weeks during spring training. It normally hangs in manager John Schneider’s office at Rogers Centre.

“I wanted to do something warm and happy and give a big shout out to Toronto,” Cease said.

A long line of fans waited outside the gallery on Tuesday to view the painting, pose for pictures with him and get autographs.

Ros Lawler, the chief brand and business officer for the gallery, estimated that about 300 selfies were taken with the pitcher-turned-artist. She said the first fan arrived with a folding chair and an iPad.

The availability with him for fans wasn’t until 10:30 a.m.

“It’s pretty mind blowing to see the line,” Cease told media who gathered for the unveiling. “It feels very big in a lot of ways I wasn’t expecting. Honestly I never would have thought in a million years that I would be doing anything even remotely close to this.

“It definitely feels surreal. It’s kind of crazy.”

Cease, 30, signed a seven-year, US$210-million contract, the largest free-agent signing in club history, during the off-season. That has paid dividends. As the Blue Jays chase after a playoff position he is among the leading candidates to win the Cy Young Award, given annually to the American League and National League’s top pitcher.

This is his sixth straight year where he has struck out more than 200 batters.

Cease never took art in school – he chose a theatre class instead – and began to teach himself how to paint only four years ago.

“I think I am way better at it now,” he said. “I know what I want to do with colours. I can’t draw so I have to do something extremely abstract. I think it is cool that this is being seen and I can share something I enjoy.

“It is interesting to see the mixed receptions. I like hearing different opinions on it. Some people love it and some people hate it but ultimately a lot of people have liked it, which is great.”

Cease visited the gallery in May and was recognized by a staff member who is a huge Blue Jays fan. That meeting turned into a collaboration. Cease is donating all proceeds from the sale of items to support the gallery’s mission to enrich lives through art and learning. Recently, one of his paintings sold for $16,000 to support Jays Care, the foundation associated with the team. Forty-five people bid on the painting.

He has set up a work space in the laundry room at Rogers Centre and has a lengthy list of requests from his teammates.

“I like to experiment,” Cease said. “I don’t have plans. I try to visualize something and just throw paint together. It makes me happy. I can put whatever I want on there. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

He said he finds freedom in painting.

“In comparison baseball is very structured,” Cease said.

He never anticipated that he would have his work shown in one of Canada’s greatest galleries.

“I did it just to do it,” Cease said.

Lawler thanked him for being professional, genuine and generous with his time.

“It came together very organically and led to this wonderful moment,” she said. “I love his paintings. They exude warmth, sunshine and energy. They are joyous.”

Cease is from Georgia originally and marches to the beat of a different drummer than most major leaguers. Among other things, he and his dad keep bees together. And now he paints.

“It brings me a lot of joy,” he said. “Ultimately if it ends up here or in my bathroom I’m happy. I’ve tried to learn as much as I can in limited free time what shapes Canadian culture. I guess I am just trying to do my part.”