Dylan Cease is doing a bit more than just painting the corners in his first season in Toronto.
The Blue Jays' Cy Young candidate has spent his downtime painting, colouring outside the diamond, and unveiled some of his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Tuesday.
The AGO shop launched a limited edition retail collection of Cease's artwork, Eve of Toronto (2026) — a painting that's a nod to Toronto on display in Walker Court. The collection includes prints, postcards, T-shirts, sweatshirts and totes, with the proceeds going to support the AGO’s charitable mission.
"This is pretty unbelievable. I was inspired by the fact that I was about to spend the next years in Toronto..." Cease said at Tuesday's reveal. "I just really enjoy painting and I had a really good time making this, and it feels good to give back and feels good to be a part of the community. I hope this is just one step towards being part of the culture."
The painting was created on the cusp of his arrival in Toronto and has been hanging in manager John Schneider’s office.
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.
His work was also on display at the gallery for an hour on Tuesday, giving fans the opportunity to see it in person. And fans did come out in droves, with the line stretching almost two blocks, and the pitcher calling it "pretty mind-blowing to come up and see the line."
Kids from summer camps were also brought in to sit as Cease spoke about art.
All proceeds from sales will go to the AGO's charitable mission.
"Art, like sport, has the incredible ability to inspire and connect communities," Ros Lawler, chief of brand and business at the AGO, said. "This summer, Torontonians have been inspired, not only by the incredible season Dylan is having on the field, but also by the way he has embraced being in Toronto and sharing his passion and his wonderful art with us."
Though he told reporters that he didn't take art in high school — opting for drama instead — and doesn't have much of a background in the field, painting is something that stuck with him as something to do in his free time while taking his mind off baseball.
And unlike baseball, he welcomes the subjectivity of the medium, where stats can't define whether or not something works, saying that "you don't have to like it. Some people love it, some people hate it. It's interesting seeing the mixed reception."
"It just makes me happy. Helps me feel good about life. Helps me kind of have something that's, I guess, opposite from baseball in the sense that baseball's more war-like, and painting's more forgiving in the sense of I can just go put whatever I want on there and... I'm not having to be perfect," he said. "I'm just having fun and enjoying it. So, I think it helps me balance my life, balance myself in a lot of ways. And ultimately, I just really enjoy doing it."
Cease began painting in 2022 and has done artwork for former San Diego teammate Michael King's charity. After doing this painting with acrylics, he plans to learn oil painting next.
While some critics or aficionados may point out the stylistic similarities to street artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat or Keith Haring, Cease takes a more free-handed approach to his work, allowing the brush to take him where it will.
"I didn't really have any plans or anything to visualize with it; I just painted," he explained. "I put it down and I just did it step by step... I wanted to do something that felt kinda warm and happy. That's why I did lighter, earthy, grassy colours at the bottom. Smiley faces and flowers. Something that just feels light.
"Other than that, it's just kind of a big shoutout to Toronto."
-- With files from the Canadian Press
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