Root Beer Bottle Caps

 

12 x 12", acrylic on cradled aluminum panel

Painting #305, 2026, black wooden float frame

About 10 years ago, I acquired a lot of 25 unused root beer bottle caps on eBay. Several are vintage, and most feature the old-school cork liners that were phased out during the 1960s. While a few brands are familiar, most are completely new to me. They represent classic, all-American root beer brands, though several are or were available here in Canada as well.

According to my iPad, I completed the original photo study for this painting on December 3, 2016. It has been sitting on the backburner for a decade. Executing a painting like this is an intense exercise in precision and exactitude. It requires meticulous attention to lettering and colors, exploring sheen and shine, and creating the illusion of different types of metal without ever touching silver or metallic paint. For me, this is the purest form of photorealism and hyperrealism—an exploration of both technical challenge, pop culture, and nostalgia.

For the composition, I stacked the bottle caps directly on top of the cover of the Taschen Pop Art book. The book features Roy Lichtenstein's iconic artwork M-Maybe (A Girl's Picture). Because of this placement, his signature Ben Day dots (the tiny red dots) appear discreetly in four distinct areas between the caps. 

The Ben Day dots printing process was commonly used

in vintage color comic books and became a visual hallmark

of Lichtenstein's celebrated style.

There is a deliberate, conceptual layer to this arrangement: by stacking vintage, mass-produced bottle caps onto a book celebrating Pop Art, I wanted to create a direct dialogue between mid-century commercial design and high art. The caps aren't just sitting on a background; they are interacting with the very artistic movement that elevated everyday consumer objects into gallery spaces.

This painting is signed on the bottom right edge of the Frostie bottle cap.

This painting will be part of my two-person show with Jon Wilkinson entitled- 

''Still Lives  Silent Places'' 

held at the Fog Forest Gallery 

from October 16 - November 6, 2026.
Opening reception - Oct. 23, 2026 - from 4:30 to 6pm

Gallery hours - Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 5 pm or by appointment. 

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