Portrait of Master Ghagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Oil Pastel on paper
6.4cm x 8.9cm

I was born in Edmonton in 1971, but grew up in Kelowna, British Columbia. One may think that all that beautiful scenery in the Okanagan Valley would be enough to inspire any artist. However, my love for art I believe is rooted in my early exposure to classical paintings of the nude by artists like Renoir, Degas, and of course Ruebens. My source was a handful of art-themed postage stamps that I pilfered from my Grandfather’s stamp collection when I was nine. That was how I fell in love with the art of the female form. Of course being nine I was probably sucked into my obsession by hormones and instinct more than the artistic quality of the paintings.

After high school I enrolled in a first year drawing class and a class in Art History at Grant MacEwan College. That experience and exposure to the academic art world was enough to convince me that being an artist was my true desire.  I completed my Diploma in Fine Art in 1994 and then transferred to the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Fine Art program.

However, my skill and knowledge of computers had inadvertently landed me in a technical career with UPS. So with only 2 studio courses left to complete my degree I opted to take the career instead.

After 14 years I'm still employed with UPS. I spent several years in Toronto and then had the opportunity to return to Edmonton in 2003, which I took full advantage of - acquiring permission from the U of A to complete my outstanding studio courses and was finally awarded my Bachelor’s degree in 2008.

Although I enjoy primarily painting the figure in acrylic or watercolor, being a father of now three children aged 8, 10, and 12, I find it interesting to see how their communication and expression can usually be unified by a common theme.  It is this experience with my children that has recently become a new interest and focus for me. Taking a break from the human figure, I am now starting to explore how a single event, influence, or obsession can be significant enough to mould who we become, much in the same way that a postage stamp was the seed for my interest in art and the human form.

EDUCATION
1997           Bachelor of Fine Art, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (completed 2008)
1994           Diploma of Fine Art, Grant MacEwan College, Edmonton, AB
2006           Ukranian Iconography (St. Michael), Marianna Savaryn, Edmonton, AB
2006           Encaustic Painting, Izabella Orzelski-Konikowski, Edmonton, AB

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008           Worse Things Have Happened to Better People, Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, Edmonton, AB

MEMBERSHIPS
Edmonton Arts Council
Edmonton Art Club
IllustratedATCs.com
Society of Figurative Arts
Visual Arts Alberta Association

PUBLICATIONS
2008           Artist Trading Cards: The Best of IllustratedATCs.com 2007, IllustratedATCs.com, pp. 6, 15, 25,35, 45, 66, 90 available in print through lulu.com

2009           Artist Trading Cards: The Best of IllustratedATCs.com 2008, IllustratedATCs.com, available in print through Amazon.com late 2009

EXPERIENCE
2008           Office Administrator, Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, Edmonton, AB Art Instructor, Grant MacEwan College (Outreach), Edmonton, AB

COLLECTIONS
Grant MacEwan College, Edmonton, AB
Afton School of the Arts, Edmonton, AB

joncorbett@telus.net