Two of Jasper’s leading visual artists will showcase their long and colourful career at the Jasper Artist’s Guild (JAG) next month.

On Feb. 4, JAG will welcome local artists Ray Syrja and Alan Butler back to Brushfire Gallery for an extensive two-artist show. The show will open with a gala, with live entertainment by Brian Lackey. 

With close to a hundred years of art-making between them, Alan Butler and Ray Syrja will show the community works from their early years, all the way up to what they are currently working on. While most people know Butler and Syrja as watercolour landscape painters, the progression through style, subject matter and mediums covers the full spectrum.

“Hindsight represents a look back to my arrival in Canada in 1973 showing a rare oil panel executed in 1974, along with charcoal drawing done at an evening class in the early ’70s in Calgary,” said Butler. “Also some early acrylics of wildlife along with sketch books showing my working method and development or change of style, leading me to my present method of working, which is as always ever evolving.”

Syrja will be showing a range of work beginning in 1973 with portraits in oil pastels, coloured pencils and oil paints; moving into the ’80s with acrylics and soft pastels to watercolours in the ’90s. 

“I started painting with oils in 1972,” said Syrja. “I loved it and painted with them for 10 years. Unfortunately, it [oil] is really toxic and smelly, so I moved on to acrylics and worked with acrylics exclusively for 10 years.”

In the late ’80s and early ’90s Syrja started working with Harold Olsen, who came to Jasper to paint over a period of 11 years, and began learning to paint with watercolours.

“I fell in love with watercolour and jumped in with wild abandon often spraying paint onto Alan’s [Butler] paintings during duo demonstrations at workshops,” he added.

Butler and Syrja began their partnership during a show held at the Jasper Yellowhead Museum in 1993.

“I was doing a 20-year retrospective show at the museum,” said Syrja. “I invited local artists to come and paint and Alan [Butler] responded. I knew of him then, but that’s when we really became co-conspirators.”

The two have been teaching painting and drawing to locals and visitors since then. They have taught with the Jasper Further Education Council, Silvertip Art, the Jasper Park Lodge Elderhostel Program, A Brush With Watercolour, Jasper Artists Guild and Artra in Edmonton. They have taught many mediums, including watercolour, landscape, birds and animals, figure drawing, heritage buildings and portraits. The duo are also co-authors of two watercolour instructional books.

Butler and Syrja said that after their long careers, they decided it was time for a retrospective.

“This show is meant to show our progression over the last 30 years,” said Butler, adding that he will show some work that dates back to when he was just 10 years old. “I am mechanically inclined in nature and that shows in my work from the early years. I like impressionism and that’s the way I’ve been trying to steer my art. It has taken me 30 years to progress to what I am doing now.”

Syrja said that people know him as a traditional landscape watercolour painter.

“And that’s just over the last 20 years. I am really looking forward to people seeing some portraits I painted in the ’70s. The oil paintings are so different, with very strong, colourful images.”

Butler and Syrja said they are both hoping to be inspired to move on to the next phase of their painting careers with the upcoming show.

“Since the passing of my mother, I have been stymied,” said Butler. “My goal is to progress from the style I have now to the next level. It is always challenging being an artist and I am hoping this show will kick-start me and get me going again.”

Syrja said he is quite excited for the retrospective show. 

“I see this as a jumping off point. I have reached a point where I am ready to get back into acrylics. I have reached an impasse with landscape and I am excited by the new ideas I have for acrylic painting.”

Join Butler and Syrja at the opening gala for Hindsight...(How to make an artist or two.) on Feb. 4 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The show will run weekends until Feb. 20.