‘I’m going on the extreme on the house for a Canadian theme. I do what I like to do at my house. The city loves to give me a hard time, but I’m an artist, and if you like it, you like it, if you don’t, you don’t’
Dan Seguin has never been afraid to try something a little bit different.
The eccentric artist and recycler is well known in North Bay for his decorated home on Cassells Street with thousands of collected items.
His newest work of art is a “head” above the rest.
It’s a Howie Mandel head, to be exact, which Seguin carved out of an eight-foot-tall block of foam.
“The origin was to try to make a Guinness World record bobblehead attempt,” admitted Seguin.
Ironically, Seguin says the original idea was to create a giant Ellen DeGeneres head.
“It was supposed to be Ellen, which is humorous in itself, but she retired before I got finished doing what I was doing,” said Seguin.
“So I figured since I’m making a Canadian-themed display, I thought what popular Canadian could I sculpt instead of Ellen, that would fit into what I’m doing, and there was Howie Mandel, and so far it seems to have been the best choice.”
Meeting Howie
The timing of the project completion was perfect. That’s because on September 27, Howie Mandel was scheduled to do a comedy show at the Capitol Centre. That’s when Dan Seguin decided he needed to bring his artwork to the Capitol Centre parking lot to show Howie in person.
However, he was hoping to break a world record for the largest bobblehead, but he was unable to complete the body before Howie visited North Bay.
It would have included a giant Howie body, which, all put together, would be called the “Stairway to Howie.”
Although it was not complete, Seguin says it impressed the 70-year-old Canadian comic.
“He came out along with his security team and right away said, ‘Well, that’s one heck of a fan,'” recalled Seguin of the memorable meeting.
“He was very receptive to it, he was making me bobble the head and tell him what it is he should tell the people. Everybody around was laughing; it was pure comedy, and the timing of it could not have been better.”
Seguin was hopeful that the meeting would lead to an invitation to bring his Howie Head to the TV show “Canada’s Got Talent,” which Howie has been a judge on. However, Seguin was not aware that the program was put on hiatus in 2025.
However, Seguin believes the Howie head still could get on a TV game show.
“Because he is doing that show, they have hinted at the possibility of them maybe using it as a prop on The Price is Right, which I am really excited about, it that comes to fruition.”
Canada’s Foam Mount Rushmore?
The visit inspired Seguin, who is planning to do more with his new carving talents.
He says he’s had some interesting ideas for his home on Cassells Street, including putting an Austin Mini on his roof, to creating a UFO on his roof with aliens surrounding it.
“I learned to have some respect for the people who actually use a real chainsaw and carve wood,” he said about working with foam.
“I’ve learned a lot of tricks and a lot of things, but I was using an electric chainsaw, and a reciprocating saw, and I learned that I can use heated rods and things like that for my next endeavour, which is turning my roof into a Mount Rushmore of Canadian Icons.”
He is thinking of creating giant heads of Shania Twain, Wayne Gretzky, Pamela Anderson, and Justin Bieber.
“I’m going on the extreme on the house for a Canadian theme. I do what I like to do at my house. The city loves to give me a hard time, but I’m an artist, and if you like it, you like it, if you don’t, you don’t.”
And if building a Mount Rushmore on his property isn’t enough, Seguin also hinted that he may be considering another run at mayor in 2026.