Ray Swirsky  ARTIST

Ray Swirsky is a Calgary based artist who began painting as a hobby in the fall of 2014. Now painting full time as a career, he is actively producing works in oil that range between abstract realism to realism. Growing up in the small town of Kimberley, BC, Ray has always had a connection to the great outdoors and this can be seen in his many landscape and bison paintings. Some of these will be dramatic and refined and others less refined and almost whimsical. Some will be completed with brush, some with palette knife, purposely being changed up as means of understanding how paint behaves, always learning so this understanding of oils can be incorporated into future works.

​

   You will be see a wide variety of subject matter and styles in his portfolio, from landscape, portrait, cityscapes and just about anything that catches his eye. He is always pushing himself to better understand the basic fundamentals of light, value and intensity and how oil paints are used to express that sense of atmosphere and depth into a painting.

​

   Each work begins by first breaking the composition down to a half a dozen shapes, defining each of these shapes as warm and cool areas, and then working these large shapes against one another to create a sense of depth and atmosphere.

​

   As a means of advancing his basic fundamental skills he is always challenging himself, purposely incorporating elements in every painting that challenge those skills in the hopes that these skills eventually become intuitive and consistent. Expect to see a variety of subject matter in Ray’s work as he works ever so hard to master those skills that make his works stand out.

​

​

​

If you are interested in purchasing one of Ray's pieces, please contact info@bowvalleyranche.com*