Calgary artist uses ‘disrupted realism’ to paint wildlife during demo 

John Webster has a unique way of painting wildlife that he demonstrated during his recent residency at Mountain Galleries in Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

The Calgary artist painted three works live in the hotel’s lobby from June 17 to 18.

“It’s just wonderful to get feedback from people that have never seen your work, introducing your work, and to draw attention to the gallery as well,” he said.

Born in Quebec City, Webster worked in advertising before moving west to pursue a career in fine art. He has been represented by Mountain Galleries at the Fairmont hotels in Banff, Jasper and Whistler since 2015.

Despite the change in careers, Webster noted the principles of advertising and fine art were essentially the same.

“Whatever it is you’re selling, oil or whatever, you’ve got a salient point, you’re trying to emphasize all colours and your eye is directed to a focal point and so forth,” he said. “So, the same principles apply, and the interest in colour and line and composition, they’re transferable skills.”

His passion is portrait work, but given the location of his residency, he was focused on creating artwork of wildlife. While acknowledging that bears were the perennial favourite, he enjoyed painting mountain goats the best.

“I’ve always thought they’re the iconic animal of the Rockies,” he said. “They’re just so majestic. They just scale up these mountains to impossible spots, and they’re just beautiful.”

It also gave him a nice palette to work with, since mountain goats are white and typically lived above the treeline, allowing him to use various blues of the sky, the whiteness of snow and orangey colours for the rocks.

Webster is known for his work with “disrupted realism,” which combines elements of traditional realism with abstract expressionism. It is characterized by distorted or fragmented images, bold brushwork and unexpected colour choices.

“I used to paint full-on realist, just get every eyelash and detail. Nothing wrong with that,” he said. “But when you paint realism, if you’ve got an image like a dog or something, you paint it, and you’ve got everything there. There’s a point in the painting where you’re like, ‘It’s done. There’s no more to be done. I’ve captured everything that is in the image.’”

When an artist makes a disruption in the painting, such as slashing through words or using bubble wrap to create a dotted pattern on the canvas, it helps to draw the eye to certain details.

“When I would do the realistic stuff, it kind of became wallpaper, but as soon as you put the slaps of orange or magenta or something, this disruption [is] arresting and it’s interesting,” Webster said.

More information about Mountain Galleries’ Artist in Residence Program is available online. Those interested in Webster’s work can visit his website or follow him on Instagram. He also encouraged people to buy Canadian art, noting this was tax exempt if entering the United States.