CUJO @ Chapters, St. John’s, NL
Last time I saw CUJO I was paying for his signatures. This time, he was just giving them away free to anybody who bought his book!
Thought it would be interesting to show these two pics of my time spent with Curtis Joseph of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The above pic is from Thursday night with my daughter Caitlin at Chapters where he was signing his new book. We’ve aged a bit, but retirement has been kind to him, he’s still in great shape!
And this second pic was when he was signing my Limited Edition prints of the second painting I did of him. This was taken at the Lakeshore Lions Arena in Toronto, the Leafs’ practice arena at that time. (My healthy relationship with beer is quite evident in my face here).
We had to stand awhile in line. But that didn’t faze Caitlin. As what happens in these situations, people were sharing their personal fan stories and humour, so we were entertained during the long wait.
When it was our turn to lay his book in front of him for signing, I introduced myself and told him who I brought to see him. I also presented him with a heap of postcards of the two paintings I had done of him in the past.
Curtis was as gracious as always and had a few questions for Caitlin while signing some of the postcards for her and her sister Neve. I told him we were happy to help support his new book, and I thanked him for his support all those years ago when I was a nobody artist starting my art career with the NHL.
He stood up to shake my hand, and we made eye contact. We both hugged and shared a genuine heartfelt appreciation for each other and their hard work. When he was done, I walked with him to his truck discussing the current Leaf team and their path to the Stanley Cup this year.
No, not really! But if they make a movie of me and this scene is in it, that’s how I’m telling them to lay it down!
I’m looking forward to reading his book but I’ll have to wait. Caitlin has claimed ownership of it so that she can read it first. Knowing the little bit I do about Curtis’ background, it should be an interesting read.
Anyways, it was great being able to introduce my daughter to the ‘Goalie Daddy painted’. Something tells me we may see each other again in the future. If I have it my way, it’ll be on the ice!
Below are two pics of the paintings I did of CUJO:
2 thoughts to “CUJO @ Chapters”
Loved seeing both photos of you and CUJO. I thought I had one of your postcards of a CUJO painting but if I did it’s stored away with my other treasures.
Lois, messenger me your address and I will send some postcards out to you.