B.C. painter makes splashy showing at Art Beat

So many paintings. So many colours. And so, so many different styles.

Those are just a few of the great reasons why John H. Burrow’s art is such a draw at Art Beat Gallery. The former St. Albert resident now calls B.C. home, but he’s back for the month and he’s back in a big way.

His new show encompasses more than 50 works using a variety of styles.

Burrow downplays it as a “one-man show” but he has really occupied the whole space. There’s barely a spot that doesn’t have his colours on it. Some of them come across like Ted Harrison painting children at play while others are hyperrealist and yet others are splashed and dabbed like van Gogh’s post-Impressionistic masterpiece Starry Night.

According to his website (www.johnhburrow.com), he has three basic series that cover that ground in order: folk art, landscapes and florals.

So I had to wonder, even though he is so adept at these works, why does he dabble in such an array of content and technique instead of mastering just one?

“I would quit the business!” he exclaimed defiantly. “I would probably be bored stiff! I find the variety keeps me excited.”

He added later that he doesn’t struggle with trying to identify himself with a particular painting style or subject matter.

“I don’t really worry too much about that as much as I do to come up with a fun idea. Any idea that I do, I would certainly take a different artist’s genre or style towards it just because I know it needs that.”

There’s certainly nothing boring about this collection. The vivid primary colours will certainly grab your attention right off the bat but the intriguing details will keep you glued. These oil works go from dreamlike to whimsical to supernatural depending on whether you’re looking at the playful children, the van Gogh flowers and skies, or the landscape series that makes you feel like you’re actually there.

He sometimes uses great dabs and dollops of oil paint, the curly waves sticking out from the canvas.

“There’s volume around the surrounding images,” he elaborates.

After he gets the picture right and he puts the brush down, he applies a coat of varnish and that’s where so much of the magic happens. The glistening rocks can’t be ignored, nor can the joyful, easeful characters out scampering around in a winter wonderland.

Burrow took his cue for this folk art series from time that he actually spent with Harrison about 15 years ago when they did a show together.

“The subject matter always intrigued me. I used to love spending time outside in the wintertime, and I still do.”

“The way he manipulates the light is amazing,” said Art Beat’s owner Brigitte Strand. “They really almost come to life. Some painters, they invite you in to a place, but John allows you to imagine. He takes you on a trip. It just evokes so much stuff in your imagination. He is amazing.”

She is thrilled with the show, her dĂ©but offering as the new owner. She said that there was a crowd of about 200 people who caught the opening last week and that things couldn’t be going better for her and Art Beat.

“He himself said that it was one of the best shows that he’s ever done. He was extremely pleased and he really felt loved.”