(click
on image for larger view and details)
John
Mlacak - Biography
An artist for all seasons - oils his forte
Kanata artist, John Mlacak is a passionate outdoor oil painter. His work captures
both the bold and subtle colours of the Canadian seasons and the vibrant red
and green roofs of Québec farm buildings and towns. He is fascinated by the
play of light and shade weaving through trees and over the white torrent of
rapids and waterfalls.
While John creates large oil canvases of stone terraces, flower-filled gardens,
porches and impressionistic scenes of yesteryear, he returns frequently to
the grandeur of the Canadian landscape. His en plein air paintings journey
through such magnificent locations as Gatineau Park, Rivière Rouge, l'Estire
and the Charlevoix area of Québec. Other paintings reflect scenes in Ottawa-Carleton
and travel in the Maritimes, New England and Europe. He views his art as an
extension of his former interest in design work as an engineer.
John has been painting for over 30 years and is a full-time artist who enjoys
a steady demand for his work. His paintings are exhibited in local, Ontario
and Québec galleries and he is represented in private and corporate collections
in Canada, the United States, Europe, South America, Australia, Korea, Indonesia
and Japan. John is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA)
as of May, 2009 and was elected to the Ontario Society of Artists in 2006.
John had oils accepted into the SCA's 40th National Open Juried Exhibition
at the Tudor Gallery in Montreal in August, 2007, the 41st at the Papermill
Gallery in Toronto in May, 2009 and the "Roots" exhibition at the Saint John
New Brunswick Arts Centre in June, 2009. Six of John's oils were exhibited
at the Karas Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia in December, 2007 in a show entitled
"Tracing Our Heritage". Two other artists of Croatian heritage were also in
the show. John exhibited three of his large oil landscapes in a group show
in April, 2008 at the Croatian Embassy in Ottawa. John is participating in
the 2nd Annual Juried Show at the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery in Brockville,
Ontario until August 29, 2009 and in the Ontario Society of Artists Summer
Exhibitions at Gallery de Boer in Owen Sound, Ontario from Aug. 4 to Oct.
9, 2009. He is also returning to the Rideau Valley Art Festival for its 28th
show from Aug. 21 to 23, 2009.
John has studied with a number of renowned artists. He was influenced by the
late Canadian artists Brodie Shearer and Bruce Heggtveit, and greatly admires
Canada's own Group of Seven, Tom Thomson and the French Impressionists. John
participates in numerous group and solo shows annually and has won many awards
for his art in juried exhibitions. John is well respected for his repeated
generosity in providing work to a considerable number of charities.
In the spring of 2004, John was awarded first in oils at the Ottawa Art Association's
85th Anniversary juried show at the National Gallery of Canada. John participated
annually in the Ottawa Art Festival. The former Mayor of Ottawa, Bob Chiarelli,
invited John to exhibit his paintings at Ottawa City Hall in the Council Chambers
in early December, 2004. John's work was accepted to be shown in the Mayor
of Ottawa's First Fine Art Festival. He is a founding member of the Kanata
Artists Studio Tour and the Kanata Civic Art Gallery. John was guest speaker
to 150 members of West End Learning Unlimited in January, 2008. His topic
was, "the Evolution of an Artist". John is much in demand to conduct demonstrations
for art organizations and as a juror.
