John Kenneth Esler

John Kenneth Esler (1933-2001)

John Kenneth Esler was born in Pilot Mound, Manitoba. Esler studied at the Winnipeg School of Art under Robert Bruce and George Swinton. Esler spent the bulk of his artistic career in Calgary, where he also taught intaglio printmaking at the University of Calgary. His prints and low reliefs are made with the use of objects such as flattened foil pie plates and corrugated cardboard against a background of soft ground etched plates. Esler won various accolades, including the C.W. Jefferys Award at the Canadian Society of Graphic Art in 1963 and 1965 and first prize in the Annual Calgary Graphics Exhibition in 1962.

(Source: MacDonald, Colin S. A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I)