Bladek, John

John was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario but spent most of his adult life living and working in Calgary, AB as a geological consultant for the oil and gas industry.  He retired in 2011 and moved to Quinan, NS but still spends time out west.

John was introduced to oil painting in a grade 12 art class, at that time his style was influenced by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris.  He always kept his interest in visual art, became a collector himself and finally took up painting again in 2015. He quickly developed his “geometric” style as well as another more abstract style of painting which he calls “fish figments”. Seeking some formal instruction, he attended ACAD in Calgary and completed their Visual Arts Certificate of Achievement Program (2019). He exhibits and sells his work in public and private galleries in Nova Scotia and Alberta.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I try to keep my life as simple as possible and that philosophy is reflected in my style of painting. I “simplify” relatively complex scenes by portraying them as an assemblage of geometric shapes of varying shapes, sizes and colours, eliminating what in my mind are unimportant details and distractions.   It is my hope that people who see my paintings will appreciate them as a different and somewhat abstract depiction of everyday scenes.