A Night to Remember

I was invited to come and paint at the Banff Springs Hotel for the Western Connection Radiance Gala on January 25th, 2025

I spent the evening painting a northern lights piece that they would be auctioned off at the end the evening for charity. I talked to a lot of people and had a great time. I was hoping at some point there would be the opportunity for me to meet the keynote speaker, the one and only, Jay Leno!

I finished up my painting and made my way to my table. As I sat down to enjoy the meal with the guests, Mr. Leno walked right by our table and stood off to the side of the stage as he was preparing for his set.

There were just a few people near him, and I felt very shaky and nervous, but them I remembered a live in a movie I saw once where the guy was so nervous to kiss the girl so he said “3-2-1'“ and leaned in for the kiss without thinking about it. So I did the same thing, “3-2-1” and I stood up and had an out of body experience watching myself approaching Mr. Leno!

“Hello Mr. Leno. I was wondering if I could have a photo with you?” I said with an awkward smile.

Mr. Leno: “Of course!’ he said with a huge smile and he leaned his cheek into mine. A few people standing around also took our picture. It was surreal!

I showed my table mates and they said, “You got the cheek lean!!” Haha! He made my night and I was thrilled to capture the moment. I’m happy I took a risk & felt uncomfortable for a brief moment to meet a legend!

Here’s that photo I snapped of us!

And here’s the painting I created that night that I called “Radiant light” that sold for $5k

Meeting a legend

A Night to Remember

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