Self-taught Cochrane artist Michael Sydoruk answered the call for help from organizers of a benefit concert for those recovering from the recent Carstairs tornado by painting and donating a picture of a bugling elk for the live auction called, fittingly, The Call.
The Mountain View Tornado Benefit Concert was held on July 29 at the Carstairs Memorial Arena.
Sydoruk called it a ‘no-brainer’ to create the artwork for donation when friend and Didsbury resident Cathy Dorran told him about the concert and live auction.
The Call features an elk in full bugle with a white textured background, which is a conscious choice the artist has made for his wildlife renderings, as opposed to painting in mountain landscapes as a backdrop.
“That allows the animal to be the main focus, and it’s kind of cool. When you view it, you kind of just finish the background in your mind,” Sydoruk said from his ranch 20 minutes north of Cochrane.
Sydoruk has shown his work at the Western Showcase Art Show at the Calgary Stampede, which he credits for helping his career take off.
Some of his work can be viewed on his website, wildformart.com.
The Call measures three feet by four feet, and was painted in Sydoruk’s medium of choice, acrylic on canvas.
He said he’s always wanted his art to have an impact, and he is inspired by wildlife and the outdoors.
“Being in Alberta, we’re so intimately connected with that wildlife, that to draw an emotional connection, in my situation with the eye quite a bit, allows you to pause and reflect, rather than just taking in the awe of the animal,” he said.
On his website, Sydoruk states his goal is to influence the way one views the world with each piece. Every purchased piece contributes a portion of the sale price to the conservation efforts of an endangered or affected species. The more valuable the piece, the greater the contribution.
As the clean-up effort continues in the wake of the devastating Canada Day tornado that destroyed multiple homes and damaged many others in the Mountain View County region, so too does the community’s effort to rally support for those left behind picking up the pieces.
Twelve residences were hit by the July 1 tornado that the Northern Tornadoes Project has classified as an EF4: three were destroyed, four were left uninhabitable, and a further five were damaged. The group said the tornado grew to an estimated 620 metres wide and carved a path across the Alberta landscape measuring 15.3 kilometres long.
The July 29 benefit concert featured performances from Dustin Farr, Blake Reid, Liz Christiansen, Grady Brown, and the Prairie Mountain Fiddlers.
