Kanata artist, John Mlacak is a passionate outdoor oil painter. His work captures both the bold and subtle 
colours of the Canadian seasons and the vibrant red and green roofs of Québec farm buildings and towns. He is fascinated by the play of light and shade weaving through trees and over the white torrent of rapids and waterfalls.
While John creates large oil canvases of stone terraces, flower-filled gardens, porches and impressionistic scenes of yesteryear, he returns frequently to the grandeur of the Canadian landscape.
His en plein air paintings journey through such magnificent locations such as Gatineau Park, Rivière Rouge, l’Estire and the Charlevoix area of Québec. Other paintings reflect scenes in Ottawa-Carleton and travel in the Maritimes, New England and Europe. He views his art as an extension of his former interest in design work as an engineer.
John has been painting for over 30 years and is a full-time artist who enjoys a steady demand for his work. His paintings are exhibited in local, Ontario and Québec galleries and he is represented in private and corporate collections in Canada, the United States, Europe, South America, Australia, Korea, Indonesia and Japan. John is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) as of May, 2009 and was elected to the Ontario Society of Artists in 2006.
John has studied with a number of renowned artists. He was influenced by the late Canadian artists Brodie Shearer and Bruce Heggtveit, and greatly admires Canada’s own Group of Seven, Tom Thomson and the French Impressionists. John participates in numerous group and solo shows annually and has won many awards for his art in juried exhibitions. John is well respected for his repeated generosity in providing work to a considerable number of charities.
John retired in 1994 after a 35-year career with Bell-Northern Research. For 11 years he was active in local and regional municipal politics in Ottawa. He served a three-year term as a Commissioner on the National Capital Commission and was a member of the Visual Identity Advisory Committee of the Ottawa Transition Board during 2000 when it recommended some of the civic symbols for the new amalgamated City of Ottawa. In addition to his interest in music and politics, John enjoys cycling and photography.
