—  James Postill  —

James Postill earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in 1993. His work can be found in collections around the world. He has produced a number of murals and painted sculptures throughout the interior of British Columbia and Alberta. These can be found in Vernon, Salmon Arm, Lumby, Sicamous, and Calgary.

He works primarily in oils, and sometimes fresco painting, which is an ancient art form not commonly seen in Canada. In 2012 Postill learned this medium under the tutelage of 94-year old Father Dunstan Massey, a Benedictine monk from Mission’s Westminster abbey. Shortly after this teaching, Postill was commissioned to paint a 55-square foot fresco on the outside atrium of the Vernon arts center building in 2013.

Presently, Postill has returned to oil painting and his most recent works are represented at the Elevation Gallery in Canmore, Alberta, as well as Gibson’s Fine Art in Calgary, Alberta. He lives and practices art in Vernon, BC.

James Postill on fresco:

“Buon, meaning true in Italian, is used to describe buon fresco, the ancient art of painting onto freshly-laid plaster. This art form goes back thousands of years, preceding Roman times. One of the most notable examples of frescoes is the Sistine chapel, done by Michelangelo in the 1500’s.

Plaster, a mixture of lime and properly prepared masonry sand, is laid in layers on a wall.

The finest, thinnest layer, called intonaco, is the topmost layer on which the fresco picture is painted. For colors, earth pigments and minerals are applied to the new plaster, in a similar way to watercolor.”