| Canadian artist John Crittenden is a painter, photographer, and printmaker. He has lived and worked in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as many other parts of Canada, for more than 40 years professionally, producing over 1200 paintings during that time. Today he paints and photographs exclusively the Pacific Northwest of BC and Alberta. Since his first one-person show at Lambs Art Gallery in Calgary, Alberta in 1966 John has had more than 50 one-person shows across Canada in venues ranging from commercial art galleries to the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede; the Alberta Art Festival; Expo 86; the Royal Bank in Ottawa; the McLaughlin Museum; and the National Art Centre. John is a journeyman pre-press and colour specialist with many years experience in the graphic arts industry. He has worked extensively as a graphic designer and illustrator. This experience, when coupled with his love of painting, photography and printmaking, culminates in a rare combination of talents. John's work has been included in several magazines and books over the years, the latest two being his painting of Simon Fraser on the book cover for "Savage River" by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell and Chief Dan George in the book "British Columbia: Spirit of the People" by Jean Barman, which commemorates 150 years of British Columbia as a province of Canada. A gifted and self-taught artist, John's style is unique and earthy. His strong use of earth colours is what sets his work apart. Once you see his paintings you will never forget them. Recording the early history of Western CanadaJohn is the only Canadian artist that has continually recorded the remnants of the early history of Western Canada. During his whole career he has continued to paint the "things" left behind by the early settlers. "Things" like old farmhouses and barns, each constructed in the various building styles of Europe, to their fences still standing, to old wagons and early methods of travel, to important dates in the history of Western Canada, to old fishing boats and totem poles, John has recorded them all in his own unique, earthy style. These are the paintings and Giclées now offered under the banner of the Canada West Collection. Tied to the landJohn is of Irish and Anishinabe Ojibway ancestry whose lineage can been traced back to Ojibway Indians living in the White Mud River settlement on the shores of Lake Manitoba. The Anishinabe are the third largest Indian tribe in North America, surpassed only by the Cherokee and Navajo. While growing up in a small town in southern Manitoba, John took naturally to the woods and nature. To this day, although having embraced the digital technologies of the computer and Internet, he still feels most at home in the bush. Preferring to travel alone, when not in his studio he can often be found driving the backroads or hiking the shorelines and pathways of the Pacific Northwest and the foothills of Alberta with his camera, notebook and paintbox. In 1963 John married Sharon Blewett in Calgary and together they raised three children, Brad, Kent and Carol. In 1973, after launching his career in Calgary and Edmonton, and after establishing the Guild Gallery of Artists and Authors with Dr. Lipkind, president of the Alberta Dental Association, they moved to the interior of British Columbia and built a house and studio on the shores of Adams Lake where they lived for fifteen years. Here, beside a pristine 42 mile long lake with hundreds of miles of virgin forest behind them, John was finally able to spend all of his time painting. "Those were fifteen of the best years of my life. What a place to raise a family and pursue a career. Finally, out in the middle of the bush, there was nothing to do but build our home and paint. That's what we did and the whole family loved it. We actually became a family for the first time." Ruggedly independentJohn is an opponent of the central state, its wars and its socialism. "A study of history invariably reveals that the biggest enemy of any free people is their own government. People do not wage war against people. Governments wage war against governments. And the people pay, many with their lives. If a society wants peace the most basic thing they must do is limit the power of their government and the influence it has over them. That said, there are a lot of good people in government. And they do a lot of good things. Except for a few psychopaths throughout all levels of government, the main problem is the system, not the people." Throughout a 40 plus year professional career John has never applied for nor accepted government grants of any kind to support or further his career. While many of his contemporaries lived on one government grant after another John succeeded on his own. Graciously declining interviews over the years, John prefers to let his work speak for itself. "I'm just the artist. My work will outlive me and that is more important than I am. Too many artists spend too much time trying to be different or trying to be seen as important. That's silly. Most great paintings are a series of mistakes if the truth were known. Great paintings are produced by the unconscious mind. They just happen. Instead of listening to artists babble on about their life I think it's best to simply enjoy their work. So I refuse to bore you. And anyway, my work is often much too personal to talk about. Even if I knew how to begin very few would understand. The pursuit of art is a personal journey. Occassionally I try to put some of it into poetry. But even there most of the time it is simply a result of me talking to myself and probably does not make much sense to most."
|
