Artist Jason Carter paid a visit to Banff Elementary School on Thursday (Feb. 12) to talk with students about his work as a sculptor and painter and to answer questions about what it’s like to be a contemporary artist.
“It’s contemporary, abstract, aboriginal pop art – I have no idea what else to call it,” Carter told Banff Elementary students and staff about his esthetic style.
Carter fielded questions from the students on what it’s like to be a contemporary artist, what some of his favourite aspects of the job are and what pieces he personally likes the most.
“For me, it’s the last painting or last carving that I did; except for a few key ones like my very first painting or my very first rabbit – those will always have a very special place for me and I’ve kept all of them,” Carter said.
Carter had examples of his most recent work to show the students, including an acrylic painting and two of his stone animal sculptures.
“I’m continually learning when I paint because I’m self-taught. This painting here is the first one where I transitioned from one colour into another, whereas with all of my paintings I generally stick with one colour and transition into a lighter colour of that same colour.
“So I was excited by this painting because it opened me up to see that there’s more to it than shades of one colour. I’m really excited about this painting,” Carter said.
Most of the students were familiar with Carter’s nature and animal work, thanks in part to his and partner Bridget Ryan’s children’s books, including Who is Boo?, but Carter explained he works and creates with a number of subjects.
“I definitely work on other stuff, I did a show called The Human Form, where I did sculptures of yogis and paintings of portraits – I think what you’ve seen ‘til now is the nature stuff, but I’ll explore and paint a bit of everything,” Carter said.
“I tried to do fog on my first one (painting) and it was like a little wisp. It was really disappointing so I gave up on that one and avoided painting landscapes for a little while until Bridget my partner presented Who is Boo? the book, and on page six there was a landscape so I had no choice, I had to do it.”
