Alberta Industry Paintings

ATB Financial commissioned me for two large paintings showcasing industry in Alberta; one showcasing the industrial history of Alberta, and the other a modern portrait of Calgary with contemporary energy industries. To summarize Alberta industry in a painting, I decided to show a variety of tradespeople at work in different fields and eras; from First Nation's peoples fishing to modern oil and gas employees, machinery, and sites. A modern portrait of Calgary was a great challenge in showcasing a city; adding wind turbines and oil pump jacks emphasized a major part of the sources that created downtown. These paintings are intended to inspire employees in training at ATB's head office in Edmonton, and are a reminder of their blue collar clientele that built the province to what it is today.

These compositions are influenced by tattoo art, which sees confines of space on the human body differently than the typical rectangle of a painting. Effective tattoos deal with a canvas moving and shifting, where a viewer's perspective is turning all the time, resulting in scenes organically changing without hard lines. Where I don't see it possible for one visual scene to behold my client's wishes, this kind of approach can be very useful, especially if I implore the natural changes in scenery to have a swooping arched composition that reads well.

Project Type

Custom Paintings

Building Name

Sun Life Place

Street Address

10123 99 St NW Edmonton, AB

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