The luxury of travelling the world has been taken away from us too suddenly and too soon. However, Centennial’s own art professor Dalibor Dejanovic who has often visited various places around the globe has vivid memories that are enough to last him a lifetime. Paint palette in hand, and with a few strokes of a brush, he is not bound by travel restrictions as he revisits the places he has been when they come alive in his artwork.
Capturing beautiful landscapes, you get lost in Dejanovic’s pieces envisioning that you too have visited these places. However, you did not have to go too far, as Dejanovic chose a local landscape when he painted Cobourg, one of his favourite towns in Ontario. This piece was showcased on CBC’s Landscape Artist of the year Canada when Dejanovic was one of the competitors featured on the season one, episode two airing of the show on October 16, 2020.
If you don’t know Dejanovic personally, haven’t attended one of his classes or seen him on campus pre-COVID, the show gave you a bit of insight with regards to his passion for art and how he overcame his not so fond of memories channelling that energy into his pieces. One segment of the show where Dejanovic is chosen as a finalist in the competition, reveals that Dejanovic is an amateur artist who came to Canada as a refugee from war-torn Yugoslavia, and that discovering art helped him cope with the loss of friends and family.
Dejanovic showcased his skills impressing judge Marc Mayer who spoke on Dejanovic’s chalk pastel version of Cobourg. “I love the way it’s pastel, and in the middle, it’s a scene. It’s a place that you can feel,” says Mayer. “I always look for artists who can take us someplace where we didn’t think we were going,” Mayer adds.
On the night of October 16, when the show aired, you could tell that Dejanovic was excited as he gave us a sneak peek at his Cobourg piece which he previewed on his Facebook page. “I don’t have a photo of my final work, but I do have this small sketch I painted as preparation for the final,” writes Dejanovic captioning the tiny version of the blue and orange water reflecting the sun and the sky along with touches of green from trees standing along the bank backed by navy blue mountains. Even in sketch form, you got lost in the beauty of a place that maybe some of us have never been.
Once you are on tv, even once, it is almost as if you become an overnight celebrity, so imagine having a celebrity as your professor. Dejanovic did win the wildcard category for season two but unfortunately didn’t win the Landscape Artist of the Year title. However, he is a winner in our eyes, and it is quite evident that his work and passion speaks for itself, granting him a spot on the show for the nation to see.
If you also have an interest or passion for art, to think that you can have access to his knowledge, talent and teachings by registering at Centennial is a privilege that shouldn’t take for granted.
“Being fully present in the moment, immersing myself in the act of direct painting on location is for me a form of meditation. The ordinary becomes unique, space and time distinct through light, atmosphere and emotion” expresses Dejanovic.
By: Anya-Kaye Parkes, Public relations - Corporate Communications student