Field of Dreams, the Blue Jays at 50

 

12 x 12", acrylic on gessoed aluminum panel

painting #312, 2026, black wood frame with a 1" white linen liner

Some paintings take months and sometime years in the making; others arrive simply. The spark for this piece was ignited last fall during the dramatic heartbreak of Game 7, when the Toronto Blue Jays went deep into extra innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Standing on the precipice of a World Series title, the country watched as a 9th-inning lead evaporated, culminating in an 11-inning, 5–4 loss. Yet, despite the defeat, a profound shift had occurred. The Blue Jays did something rare that gradually developed during their entire post-season run. In a deeply divided world—they kind of brought an entire nation together. Even though no Canadian actually plays for Toronto, the team's chemistry and the pride they displayed for the only franchise in our country was so awesome. The sheer joy that the players showed on and off the field truly cemented this roster in the hearts of fans from coast to coast. The morning after that bittersweet game, I walked into Canadian Tire and bought this pristine Rawlings baseball.

The purchase felt even more resonant given the milestone on the horizon: 2026 marks the Blue Jays' 50th anniversary. Earlier this spring, coming home from Europe, we managed a quick two-day stopover in Toronto and caught the May 11 opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. Even though they dropped the game 8–5, the energy inside the stadium was electric. We watched Kevin Gausman collect his 2,000th career strikeout, while Andrés Giménez hammered a career-high two home runs in a single game. What struck me the most was the attendance—39,336 fans packed into a stadium at 4:00 PM on a Monday afternoon in early spring. The love for the game was palpable. In a strange twist of baseball fate, those same Tampa Bay Rays just clinched their spot yesterday to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2026 World Series.

I've only played a bit of baseball during my youth, but the game never truly left me. I still recall the Blue Jays winning the World Series in 1992 and 1993, and following the Montreal Expos during my teens and as a young adult. Another enduring affection belongs almost entirely to Phil Alden Robinson’s 1989 cinematic adapted from the magical-realist novel Shoeless Joe by the late Canadian author W.P. Kinsella. Field of Dreams is my all-time favorite movie. I was 27 years old when I first sat in the dark of the Riverview Mall Cinema with Suzanne. By the time the final credits rolled, the film had completely wrecked me. Driving home that night, I was bawling so hard I could barely keep my eyes on the road. Decades later, the morning after the Jays lost Game 7, that same emotional gravity pulled at me again. I went online to ThriftBooks and tracked down a used copy of Kinsella's original novel.

Click to play trailer

I began working on this panel in August, often painting with the television playing in the background as Toronto battled through a tight wildcard race. One quiet evening, flipping through channels on a light sports night, I stumbled onto Field of Dreams just as it was starting on TSN. During a completely ordinary scene, the background score caught me off guard, instantly tugging at my heartstrings until my eyes welled up. A quick search revealed why: the film’s sweeping, emotional score was composed by James Horner, the same brilliant mind behind Titanic.

Immersing myself further into the story, I listened to the audiobook of Shoeless Joe and discovered a narrative far more intellectual and complex than its Hollywood film. In the book, the protagonist Ray has an identical twin named Richard who is entirely absent from the movie, and the ultimate reconciliation belongs to this estranged brother who fled home at sixteen. Furthermore, the reclusive writer Ray kidnaps isn't the fictional Terence Mann, but the notoriously private J.D. Salinger, the author of Catcher in the Rye. When Salinger, found out that his name was attached to this book, he was none too pleased, so to avoid a lawsuit during the screenwriting, a fictional substitute took his place.

Just reading the synopsis, the storyline seems kind of farfetched. W.P. Kinsella openly admitted that reading Phil Alden Robinson's finished script brought tears to his eyes. He recounted saying to himself, "This is my own work doing this to me. How can this happen?" He deeply admired how beautifully written it was, particularly because Robinson managed to protect the core integrity and emotion of the story. Field of Dreams is widely considered one of the greatest film adaptations of all time. Screenwriter and director Phil Alden Robinson achieved something rare: he took a novel that was deeply intellectual and magical-realist, and translated it into a screenplay driven by pure, raw emotion. It would receive three Oscar nominations, including best picture and adapted screenplay.

It is without a doubt that what makes this film emotional for me is the father-son relationship. If I possess an ounce of manual or artistic talent it is a direct inheritance from my father. My father could practically do anything manually. He could figure out how things work and was great at problem solving. He valued craftsmanship and aesthetics. I remember him turning a replica of the Stanley Cup on a lathe from an antique oak baluster for me. He also used my grand-mother's sewing machine and made me a duffle bag for my hockey equipment. It had a drawstring (army style), made out of canvas and sewed a handmade C-H Montreal logo in the front. One of my father’s most enduring legacies is a simple piece of advice that has stayed with me throughout my life: "When you start a project, finish it."

My dad was 37 years my senior, and the generation gap between us was wide. He was a short man, just five feet tall, a relentless worker who never exercised or walked for pleasure, yet he possessed guns for biceps and the chest of a natural bodybuilder on a slim built. We viewed the world through entirely different lenses—I grew up shaped by many more opportunities presented to me and the wonderment of television; he was shaped by a starker, harder era. By the time Field of Dreams came out, he was 65 and his body was already breaking down under a myriad of ailments. Looking at a photograph of him from around 1950, he was a vibrant young man of 25 or 30. When I was that exact same age, I wanted nothing more than to step through time, meet him as a contemporary, and just bond and hang out with him before life took its toll. Watching Ray Kinsella get his second chance at the end of the film allowed me to live vicariously through that exact dream.

Now, at 64 years old, listening to the audiobook in my studio, a profound "a-ha" moment washed over me. Midway through executing this challenging composition, a breathtaking coincidence came to light: the twin brothers in Kinsella's novel are named Ray and Richard. United, they form my father's full name: Raymond Richard. The painting was no longer just an idea; it felt guided, an absolute inevitability.

My Dad - circa 1950

When I launched this Blog in 2007, it was in response of a then novelty of posting my artwork on-line and connecting with artists who were in the realism realm thus becoming a form of networking. We often shared blog links located on the right column. For the first time, it felt like I was being seen because I could control the narrative and use this platform as an archive. A lot of the artists that I followed started bypassing the brick and mortar galleries and selling their paintings through eBay. While I didn't myself, I did however acquire dozens of amazing works from this community during the following decade.

One of those artists was Mick McGinty. I knew that he was a celebrated illustrator; he had done album covers for famous rock bands and for video games. But he was mostly known for his movie posters of Hollywood Blockbusters. I corresponded a bit with him and would acquire two of his paintings very early on, a still life and a street scene from New York City. It was only when I did the research for this painting that I became aware that he also did the movie poster for Field of Dreams. Sadly, he died of stage IV lung cancer at the age of 68 in 2021 shortly after being diagnosed. In 2020, prior to his diagnosis, he, his wife, his son Jobe with his family visited Dyersville, Iowa, where the setting for the movie has remained and is currently a tourist attraction. Jobe played catch with his Dad!

Field of Dreams Movie poster by Mick McGinty

The backdrop for my own painting is rooted closer to home: CN Ball Field #9 on Rhéal Cormier Drive in Moncton. Cormier was our local baseball titan from Shediac, a legendary left-handed pitcher who spent 16 seasons in the Majors and proudly wore the Canadian jersey at two Olympic Games before he, too, was taken way too early by cancer in 2021.  He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

CN Field #9, Rhéal Cormier Drive, Moncton, NB

The baseball glove in this painting is also by Rawlings. I bought it when my son Jean-Luc was young so we could play catch together. 

This painting is currently on view in a two-person show with Jon Wilkinson at the Fog Forest Gallery, entitled:

"Still Lives, Silent Places"

October 16 – November 6, 2026 

• Opening Reception: Friday, October 23, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
• Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by appointment.

To acquire this painting, please contact:
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street, Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
fogforestgallery.ca

Jacks on Jack Daniel's, an allegory

 

9 x 12", acrylic on cradled aluminum panel

Painting #311, 2026 | Black wooden floater frame

The initial concept for this painting surfaced back in November 2015. While browsing at HomeSense, I spotted a classic set of Ball & Jacks inside a beautifully retro, cylindrical cardboard box. At the time, I envisioned a narrative about personal struggle, pairing the game with Margaret Atwood’s book Moral Disorder and an almost empty bottle of whiskey—a cautionary tale regarding dependence, gaming, substances, and losing one's way in life.

I carried that imagery in my mind for over a decade. However, a whole new narrative unfolded simply by changing the book at the center of the frame. While I retained the vibrant teal color palette inspired by the Atwood cover, the physical book transformed into George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The result is an allegorical piece infused with symbolism regarding the current political climate in the United States. At its core, 1984 illustrates how a nation collapses into a dystopian state when extreme nationalism and political apathy allow a totalitarian regime to erode the concept of objective truth. Orwell warned that a state can completely dominate its citizens by rewriting history, policing language, and demanding absolute, unquestioning loyalty to a leader whose manufactured cult of personality replaces all human affection. Ultimately, it is a chilling reminder of how easily democratic values vanish when a population surrenders its critical thinking to psychological manipulation.

The physical elements of the still life bring this warning into the modern day, built layer by layer:

• The Gold Jack: Out of the set of twelve metal jacks, only one is painted gold. Recognizing gold as the President of the United States' favorite color, it sits prominently atop the stacked arrangement.
• The Silver Jack: Balanced precariously on the Jack Daniel's bottle, this jack represents his administration, the right-wing media apparatus supporting his rhetoric, his enablers, and the MAGA movement.
• The Bottom Jack: Cast down against the book, this piece represents all those who oppose the current regime, whether they be American dissidents or global citizens united in solidarity.
• The Monopoly Card: The "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE" card directly references Donald Trump’s sweeping mass clemency actions, which granted sweeping pardons and commutations to individuals charged or convicted in connection with the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
• The Marble: This represents the pervasive mind games at play—denying the validity of the 2020 election, erecting barriers to restrict Black voters, and weaponizing falsehoods to reshape reality. The way the glass marble subtly distorts the surface beneath it mirrors how these strategies twist the public's perception of truth.

This political strategy relies heavily on the old saying that "if you repeat a lie often enough, people will eventually believe it." Since his return to office, we have seen systemic shifts that mirror Orwell's warnings: the breach of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) through blanket tariffs, the subsequent Canadian retaliatory restrictions on American goods (including Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey), the erosion of international alliances, and executive directives aimed at altering historical narratives within federal institutions and national museums. From pulling out of global agreements to threatening the sovereignty of close allies, the guardrails of American democracy appear entirely down.

I have visited the United States upwards of 25 times. My last visit was during the summer of 2016, when my family and I ascended Mount Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park. I have chosen to personally boycott travel to the US ever since. While I had planned to return after the 2020 election, watching the systemic delays that prevented accountability after the insurrection convinced me to stay put.

As a Canadian, I love the United States and hope to return one day when institutional order is truly restored. In the meantime, I am deeply proud of our Prime Minister, Mark Carney, for standing as a true statesman in defense of our nation and serving as a vital voice of reason on the world stage. We must collectively remember Benjamin Franklin's timeless warning that a democracy is "a Republic, if you can keep it."

This painting is currently on view in a two-person show with Jon Wilkinson at the Fog Forest Gallery, entitled:

"Still Lives, Silent Places"

October 16 – November 6, 2026 

• Opening Reception: Friday, October 23, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
• Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by appointment.

To acquire this painting, please contact:
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street, Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
fogforestgallery.ca

The Last Cherry Blossom

 

8 x 6", acrylic on cradle aluminium panel

painting #310, 2026, black floater frame

The Cherry Blossom has gone missing. Here is a brief 101 history course in a nano minute about this most unique and iconic Canadian treat.

The candy was originally conceived by the Walter M. Lowney Company, founded by an American who initially established his business in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1883. Looking to expand, Lowney established a Canadian subsidiary in the mid-1890s. In 1905, a manufacturing plant opened in Montreal's Griffintown, where the Cherry Blossom was officially mass-produced for more than half a century before production shifted to Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1962. Other beloved candies made by Lowney included Glosette Raisins and Peanuts, Oh Henry!, and Eat-More. In 1987, Hershey acquired Lowney, and by 1989, they consolidated operations by moving to Smiths Falls—then known as the chocolate capital of Ontario. In 2008, as part of a global "supply chain realignment," Hershey shocked the town by leaving Canada entirely and moving its production line to Mexico.

The Cherry Blossom was made and sold exclusively for the Canadian domestic market and possessed a unique combination of structural traits: a lumpy mound of milk chocolate with a maraschino cherry floating inside an incredibly sweet, runny maraschino syrup, all paired with peanut and coconut bits. It held an intensely nostalgic, acquired taste that resonated deeply with generations of Canadians for more than a century.

Cherry Blossom commercial from the 1970s with a jingle that 

will probably stick in your head for the rest of the day. 

I guess nothing lasts forever. In January 2025, Hershey Canada announced the retirement of the candy, and production was immediately halted. Upon learning this, I rushed to a few stores to grab some of the remaining stock, but alas, the shelves were already bare. It wasn't long before the last remaining boxes were being resold online for astronomical profits. However, a week or two later, my wife Suzanne saw a Facebook post sharing that a small batch had been spotted right by a cash register at a Sobeys store in Dieppe. I quickly hopped in the car and was able to secure three boxes before they vanished for good.

During this final run of the Cherry Blossom, the iconic packaging had been altered by a black-and-white Health Canada warning label stating the product was high in saturated fat and sugar. Interestingly, back in September 2021, I had bought a few boxes with the explicit intention of painting them. I held several photo sessions, taking dozens of pictures with aluminum foil and Van Gogh's Almond Blossom background, but the composition never quite clicked. Thinking I had all the time in the world, I threw the empty boxes away, giving myself a reason to buy and eat more in the future. Nonetheless, those early photos served me well as reference imagery when I began a fresh photographic study this past summer using the precious final boxes I managed to acquire.

The Cherry Blossom was ultimately a victim of shrinkflation. It used to weigh 2 ounces (57g), and back then, the box was a perfect cube. When I was a teenager in the mid-1970s, it was my Mom's favorite candy. For Mother's Day, I remember going to the corner store and buying four of them—I think they cost between 15 to 25 cents each at the time. When I aligned them 2 x 2, the tops still formed a perfect square. I remember wrapping them up, making her a card with a fancy drawing, and I can still feel the smile and the kiss she gave me when she unwrapped them.

By 1990, when Hershey reduced the weight to 45g, they didn't just scale the chocolate dome down evenly; they flattened the candy slightly and altered the packaging cardstock to a shallower template to save on shipping volume and shelf space. Because the front face of the box was kept square to preserve the classic graphics on store shelves, the box became much narrower from front to back. With this structural refit, the dome-shaped chocolate no longer sat perfectly upright on its base, but tilted sideways. Worst of all, the original recipe had also been altered.

Back in 2016, Suzanne and I visited the Van Gogh Museum while spending a few days in Amsterdam. While photography was not allowed inside, I bought a jumbo postcard of Almond Blossom, which he painted in February 1890. I experienced a true "coup de coeur" the moment I saw this masterpiece in person. I loved it so much that I even bought two espresso cups and saucers featuring the Almond Blossom motif.

Van Gogh's masterwork was created during the exact same decade that Lowney introduced the Cherry Blossom to Canada. Almond Blossom was a gift for Vincent's brother Theo and sister-in-law Johanna, who had just welcomed a baby son, Vincent Willem. In the letter announcing the arrival, Theo wrote: ‘As we told you, we’ll name him after you, and I’m making the wish that he may be as determined and as courageous as you.’ Unsurprisingly, it was this work that remained closest to the hearts of the Van Gogh family, and Vincent Willem went on to found the Van Gogh Museum. Inspired by Japanese prints, Van Gogh painted those blossoming branches to celebrate the birth of his nephew, turning them into a universal symbol of new life and fresh beginnings.

Nature permanently regenerates and blooms, while our commercial childhood staples are not always allowed the same fate. By placing a discontinued, now-extinct consumer product right in front of Almond Blossom, it creates an artistic irony in itself. Later that same year, on July 27, 1890, at just 37 years old, Vincent van Gogh walked into a field and tragically shot himself in the chest, dying two days later.

On a brighter note, after completing this painting, I slowly ate and savoured the final Cherry Blossom I had acquired. Knowing it was the last time I would ever experience that taste made for a deeply nostalgic, bittersweet moment.

This painting is currently on view in a two-person show with Jon Wilkinson at the Fog Forest Gallery, entitled:

"Still Lives, Silent Places"

October 16 – November 6, 2026 

• Opening Reception: Friday, October 23, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
• Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by appointment.

-SOLD

Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street, Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
fogforestgallery.ca

Peonies for Moira Rose, an homage to Catherine O'Hara

 

12 x 12", acrylic on gessoed aluminum panel

painting #309, 2026, black wood frame with a 1" white linen liner

I had the TV on CBC, watching something or another, when an episode of Schitt’s Creek started playing. It usually takes a lot to make me laugh out loud, but I found myself having to pause and rewind scenes because of the sheer hilarity of Moira Rose, played by the brilliant Catherine O’Hara. This was back in 2017 during the sitcom's third season. Naturally, I proceeded to immediately binge-watch the first three seasons on Netflix.

The first five episodes of season one introduced a seemingly ordinary baseline: Moira Rose as a sarcastic, spoiled, eccentric, and melodramatic matriarch. She was a former daytime soap opera actress and wig-loving fashionista trying to settle into the dismal town of Schitt’s Creek after losing the fortune that had kept her in the lap of luxury. Then, in episode 6 ("Wine and Rose") and episode 9 ("Carl’s Funeral"), her vocabulary began its grandiose transformation as did her enunciation.

It was during that first season that Catherine O’Hara’s makeup artist, Lucky Bromhead, gave her a book: Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words. Because O’Hara was a master of improvisation—stretching back to her days with The Second City and her iconic sketch comedy on SCTV—she developed the character of Moira Rose in real-time. Moira’s language became progressively more cartoony, archaic, and heavily stylized with each passing season as she leaned further into the lexicon. Remarkably, O’Hara kept the book a secret from co-creator Dan Levy and the show’s writers until season five. During seasons one through four, she would quietly rewrite her assigned dialogue on her own to weave in these unusual words before filming.

By season two, she had already elevated the character to a new level. The brilliant writing simply gave her the perfect platform to showcase her generational comedic talent. She is the main reason I stayed hooked through all six seasons, though the entire ensemble cast made the magic happen together.

 Classic Moira Rose scenes by Catherine O'Hara

from the series.

The video below, where Johnny and Moira venture out to buy a used car, might just be my all-time favorite and funniest scene. Here, O’Hara really goes all out, trying to minimize their wealth by fabricating a tragic backstory. Instead, she accidentally taps right back into Vivian Blake, the dramatic character she played on her old daytime soap opera, Sunrise Bay. Of course, Eugene Levy’s panicked replies and masterful facial expressions elevate the entire sketch.

Catherine O’Hara would go on to win six consecutive Canadian Screen Awards for the role—one for each season. The show's historic run culminated in a record-breaking night at the 2020 Emmy Awards, where Schitt’s Creek became the first comedy series ever to sweep all four main acting categories in a single year. Alongside Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy, Catherine took home the Emmy for Lead Actress, cementing the show's legacy as a cultural phenomenon with nine wins in a single night.

This painting is an homage to a great actress whom we sadly lost earlier this year in January. These peonies are a fulfillment of her request to spruce up their environment—as Moira famously asks, "Would it kill someone to plant a few peonies?" (Season 2, Episode 6 - "Moira vs. Town Council").

The Rosebud Motel Room 3 key represents the time Moira is asked to tend the front desk while Stevie is away (Season 3, Episode 8 - "Motel Review"). The canning jar holding the flowers was a Dollarama find from right before I started the painting in July, acting as a symbol of the Rose family’s current financial situation. However, I customized it for this piece, changing the raised glass letters on the front from "Home Design" to "Rose Apothecary" and altering "Since 1984" to feature a raised rose in the center.

Finally, the vase rests on Foyle's Philavery, a treasury of unusual words collected by Christopher Foyle. Published in 2007, this book is now out of print. When the secret got out regarding this specific volume and its connection to the Moira Rose character, Schitt's Creek fans quickly bought up the remaining stock. Before long, third-party sellers were listing this rare book on eBay and Amazon for prices often surpassing $1,000. I ended up downloading an image from the internet and printing my own custom dust cover using my reliable Canon printer.

Standing alongside the original Rosebud Motel sign from the Schitt's Creek set (2015-2020). Current home at the CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Center, Toronto - photo from a recent visit, May 2026.

I was crushed and shocked when I learned of Catherine O’Hara’s passing, especially since the public was entirely unaware she had been ill. It felt like losing a family member or a lifelong friend. From her brilliant days at The Second City and SCTV to her unforgettable roles in Home Alone, Beetlejuice, Best in Show, and so many other masterful performances, Mrs. O’Hara will forever be remembered as an institution, a Canadian icon, and a deeply funny lady.

This painting is currently on view in a two-person show with Jon Wilkinson at the Fog Forest Gallery, entitled:

"Still Lives, Silent Places"

October 16 – November 6, 2026 

• Opening Reception: Friday, October 23, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
• Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by appointment.

-SOLD
Fog Forest Gallery
14 Bridge Street, Sackville, NB, Canada
(506) 536-9000
fogforestgallery.ca