Man, where do I not? I really try to look at the uniqueness and beauty of everything. I absolutely love being outdoors, whether that’s hiking or skiing in the mountains, chilling by a campfire at the cabin, open spaces on the prairies, or catching some surf in the islands. I get a lot of my inspiration from the beauty of nature, but I also get inspired from other artists, history, and fantasy. Sometimes, an idea just pops in my head and I think – that’d be a cool painting…then I try to paint whatever that may be.
That changes a lot, based on what I’m inspired by at the time. I like to do a lot of abstract paintings because they are so cathartic to paint. Put on some tunes, and just throw paint at a canvas. I also love to challenge myself with painting an idea that I think would be cool. Sometimes that’s a mountain scene, or something from the ocean, other times it’s an illustration-style painting. I’m starting to develop my own style, but a lot of the fun is trying new techniques and seeing where they land. The journey to a masterpiece is often paved with thousands of failures!
I really started painting about 20 years ago, when I first moved to Calgary. Prior to that, I mostly just did sketches and illustrations. I needed an outlet for my anxiety of moving to a new city, and painting really help to ground me.
I’ve never had any formal training in art, other than in High School. I was lucky in my formative years to have parents and teachers that fostered my interest and love for art. Now that I have the opportunity and time to focus on painting, I’m looking forward to exploring more formal training.
Well that really depends on the painting. Sometimes, I get on a roll and can bang out a cool painting in a couple of days. Oftentimes, my paintings start out as one thing, and end up being a completely different finished product. One of the hardest parts of being an artist is knowing when a painting is “finished” (particularly when painting abstract pieces). When I paint commissions, I try to take extra time to make sure that I am reflecting what my client really wants and get “all the feels” into the painting.
My studio is located in SE Calgary, Alberta, Canada at 4303C-11 Street SE, It’s a couple of blocks east of Blackfoot Trail SE.
Since I’ve opened my studio in November 2022, I’ve been in two shows in Calgary, and one in Winnipeg. Prior to that, I’ve been in multiple shows in Calgary, Cochrane, Winnipeg, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Florence, Italy.
The best place to see my work is on my website. Most of my pieces are purchased privately for home collections. You casn also follow me on all the social platforms below:
Instagram – www.instagram.com/grootart
Facebook – www.facebook.com/ryangrootartist
TikTok – www.tiktok.com/grootart
Linked In – www.linkedin.com/grootart
I do! I love the experience of working with a client to understand what they’re looking for. I love trying to understand the feeling behind their inspiration and try to reflect that as best as I can onto a canvas. The collaboration with my clients oftentimes leads to new ideas and directions that I wouldn’t have thought of by myself.
