Canadian artist John Crittenden is a painter, photographer, printmaker and poet. 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'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.
John 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. 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, at the age of 24, John married Sharon Blewett in Calgary, Alberta and together they raised three children, Brad, Kent and Carol. In 1973, after launching his career in Calgary and Edmonton, 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. John now spends his time between Calgary and the Lower Mainland of BC. Ruggedly independent John 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. 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. While many of his contemporaries lived on one government grant after another John succeeded on his own. Now, for the Art & Science Project to find cures for rare metabolic myopathies, he is asking for government help. "These rare muscle diseases presently cost the governments of Canada (the taxpayers) a lot of money each year. For instance, it costs from $500,000 to $740,000 per patient per year for enzyme replacement therapy for Pompe Disease. The Canadian government is presently paying for this for infants and will soon have to pay for children and adults. And this is just one of many similar conditions. Would not a better solution be to find a cure for these terrible diseases?"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." John is a journeyman pre-press and colour specialist with many years experience in the graphic arts industry. He has also worked extensively as a photographer, graphic designer and illustrator. This experience, when coupled with his love of painting and printmaking, culminates in a rare combination of talents.
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