JASPER – Marcos Molina got some extra exposure as an artist by painting live for guests at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge from June 7 to 9.
This was the Banff artist’s fifth residency at Mountain Galleries, which has locations at the Fairmont hotels in Whistler, Banff and Jasper. Three of his residencies have been in Jasper.
“I just love the support I get, not just from the gallery but people online,” Molina said. “Lots of times people think, ‘Why do artists paint?’ And a lot of the time, I have trouble answering that question myself, but it’s something internal that you love doing, and then you realize that other people appreciate what you’re doing. That gives it a purpose.”
Molina created three oil paintings in the hotel’s lobby using the Flemish technique, which involves multiple layers and drying periods, depicting Mount Robson, the Tonquin Valley, and the Three Sisters.
“That’s why I work on three or four paintings at a time, so that one layer can dry and I can just keep working on something else,” he said.
He had already been painting when he moved to Banff in his early 20s, but his new home helped foster his two passions: one for art and painting and the other for exploring the world.
After going on hikes to take photos of his subjects, Molina will sort through the images at home and create stretches from them.
“Depending what time of the day I’m there, I’ll change the lighting in my head,” he said. “That’s the more creative side of things where I do start from a picture, but then I change the colours and the shadows a little bit.”
He likes blues but tries to balance that with some warmth to his paintings.
“If you add a little bit of complimentary warm colour, sometimes it just helps the image pop out of it more,” he said.
What Molina liked best about his residency, besides the chance to stay at a lakeside mountain resort, was being able to connect with people through the landscape that he is depicting. It also adds a social element to what would typically be an isolated endeavour.
Regardless of where he creates his art, the process allows him to mentally return to these mountains.
“Time in the mountains is usually quite fleeting,” Molina said. “The memory of it fades away with time, but painting it allows you to relive that moment for a bit longer.”
He ultimately wanted to avoid recreating a static image and instead inject life into the mountain vistas.
“It’s almost a portrait of a mountain because it’s like a living thing,” he added. “They all have their own personality, so it’s not just a scene in a distance. I like representing mountains like living things.”
More information about Mountain Galleries’ Artist in Residence Program is available online. Those interested in Molina’s work can visit his website or follow him on Instagram.
