‘It was a dream of mine’: Local artist gifts Jay Leno with sculpture

A local artist have given comedian Jay Leno a sculpture before his recent show in Windsor.

A local artist has given comedian Jay Leno with a personal sculpture before his show at The Colosseum.

Peter Solly built a sculpture of Leno out of used auto parts over a year ago. With the help of Caesars Windsor, he was able to personally deliver it to the legendary comedian.

“He loved it. He couldn’t believe it,” Solly told CTV News.

“When he came out, he matched the sculpture. It was awesome. It was incredible to present him with the sculpture.”

Leno wore blue jeans and a jean shirt during the backstage meet and greet with Solly and artist Glen Hawkes, who paints each sculpture created, including the Leno rendition.

The outfit is the same as he sports on his automotive show, “Jay Leno’s Garage.”

“Meeting the celebrity I just painted felt like watching my art come to life,” Hawkes said.

During a recent phone call Solly reminded Leno that they met 30 years ago at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

“He said, ‘that’s great, we’ll have a reunion,’” Solly said with chuckle.

According to Solly, the sculpture is going to hit the road before taking up residence in California with Leno. He said the sculpture is heading to Stahls Automotive Museum in Michigan, owned by good friends of Leno’s.

“I met the manager (at Caesars Windsor before the show) and we’re going to ship it to the museum and they’re going to have it there for a while and they’re going to figure out how to ship it to Jay Leno,” Solly said.

“Maybe they can bring it down when they’re shipping a car to Jay Leno’s Garage.”

A dream come true for Solly, who is forever thankful to Caesars.

“Without them none of this would have happened,” he said.