James Postill
MASTER ARTIST
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MEDIUMS: Acrylic, Charcoal, Conte, Drawing, Fresco, Gouache, Graphite, Ink, Oil, Pastel, Silverpoint, Airbrush
SPECIALTY: ✔ Generalist
James Postill is a contemporary Canadian artist. He lives and practices his art in Vernon, BC and works mainly in acrylics, oils, and airbrush painting.
James started drawing from an early age, and in high school, was awarded a couple of art scholarships. This encouraged him to further his artistic studies.
Love for drawing turned into love for painting by the time he enrolled at art school.
He received his training at Okanagan College, earning his bachelors in fine arts degree, with a major in acrylic painting in 1993.
As a second year student, he was fortunate to receive positive encouragement during a visit from legendary artist Jack Shadbolt, who said he had “a good painting future”.
He also remembers a long conversation he had with Ken Kirkby in 1992, during an afternoon visit with some mutual family friends .
“Ken was very intense, and passionate about art. At the time, he was in the middle of creating the world’s largest oil painting depicting Inukshuks. He described how many gallons of glue, how many hundreds of yards of canvas, and frame bars went into it. It was a piece of art history in the making. It was one of those visits where I don’t recall the specific things said, but I’ll never forget the effect that afternoon had on me. It was wonderful.”
James has always loved subject matter with a story. “The best kind of story is one that the viewer can emotionally connect with and relate to.”
JAMES’ EXPERTISE
Listed below are this Mentor’s specialty skills. Join this group if you want to grow in these areas.
Specialty: ✔ Generalist
Technical:
Color and Composition
Technique Demos
Providing Art Critiques
Teaching How to Self Critique
Studio setup for art production
where to spend
Painting Frescoes
Marketing:
Artist Statement & CV
Business:
Pricing Artwork
Approaching Galleries
Studio Time Management
“Mastrius has done wonders for my confidence. I have managed to step way outside of my comfort zone which has in turn given rise to so many more opportunities to further my art career.”
~ Deb, Emerging Artist
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MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Today, James considers many artists as his inspiration, but Rick Bond is foremost among contemporary acrylic painters. He has been a mentor for James, and is the main reason he became serious about painting. At Bond’s suggestion, he created a body of oil paintings for consideration, and in 2010 was juried in as an active member to the federation of Canadian artists. James’s oil and acrylic paintings have since been in many FCA shows and won many awards and prizes.
He was recently graced with the honor of attaining FCA senior status, of which there are 118 in Canada, but even rarer is the fact that he skipped associate status and jumped straight from active artist to senior.
A continuing inspiration for James has been the depiction of scenes seen through rainy windshields. These paintings have become more and more sought-after by collectors over time, as he continues to try and capture the poetry of water’s effect on form and light.
A recent surgery and resulting down time, inspired new artistic directions, as well as the beginning of James’s interest in mentoring other artists.
“Drawing on my well of knowledge and experience and sharing it, has become a passion that I appreciate more and more as time goes by.”
He is represented at Kurbatoff Gallery in Vancouver, BC, Gibson Fine Art in Calgary, Alberta, Elevation Gallery in Fernie, BC and Canmore, Alberta.