Artist Creates Unique Artwork

Artist Creates Unique Artwork “My mother put a pencil and paper in front of me when I was 4 years old and asked me to draw a picture. I drew a fine-looking dog, cut it out for her, and I’ve been drawing and painting ever since,” says retired construction worker John Gilbertson, now in his 70s. Over the years, he’s painted farm scenes on 36-in. dia. sawmill blades, created a life-size shark on metal the size of an automobile hood, and painted Minions on refrigerant canisters. “When someone comes up with an idea for artwork and a ‘canvas’ to paint it on, I can get it done,” Gilbertson says. “In the spring of 2026, a good friend bought a ‘life-size’ rusty metal dinosaur. He asked me to paint the head and face of the 12-ft tall by 12-ft long creature, but I got carried away and painted the whole thing. It took me 28 hr, but now he’s got a colorful, iconic, one-of-a-kind prehistoric parade animal mounted on a tandem-wheeled trailer.” Gilbertson paints like a person who plays piano by ear. He creates farm scenes, animals, still lifes, and landscapes on any medium, mostly from memory or small photos. “Some artists have to sketch a scene in pencil and then paint it, but I can just look at a picture on my phone, scale it in my mind, and put paint on canvas, metal or any other material,” Gilbertson says. “I’ve done farm and cabin scenes, life-size tigers, elephants, sharks, birds, horses and cattle. I’ve done memorial artwork for people’s pets and created life-size eagles in patriotic scenes.” When a friend brought in two refrigerant canisters, two days later he’d turn the bland gray jugs into colorful minions. “He really loves them, so I created a whole family that he has displayed in his shop,” Gilbertson says. Other creations include remaking the artwork on the sign for Al Capone’s northwoods retreat for a local taxidermist and producing a 3-ft by 5-ft compilation of Chicago that he titled “City of Big Shoulders.” It depicts the skyline, Dick Butkus, Al Capone, Wrigley Field, Chicago hot dogs, and the Chicago theater district. He also creates large metal bird and butterfly yard ornaments. “I took a few art classes in high school, won Gold Key awards, and wanted to go to college, but that didn’t pan out,” Gilbertson says. “I worked construction, and painting became a nice hobby. The best advice I got was from an art teacher who told me, ‘John, you’re an artist, not a camera; paint it the way you see it, and people will like it.’ I took that to heart and have been running with it ever since.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Gilbertson, Farmington, Minn. (jwg1955@gmail.com; www.jwgart.com; Instagram: jwg_artist).

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