ABOUT JOHN MARDON

John Mardon has been an award-winning designer, illustrator and painter for over 50 years. He is one of Canada’s foremost coin designers with 32 of his coin designs struck by the Royal Canadian Mint between 1988 and 2015. His coins celebrate Canadian achievements in exploration, industry, commerce, culture and The Olympics and are prized by collectors around the world.

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Educated at Ontario College of Art and Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, John began his career in design and illustration at Design Group and Templeton Studios. He struck out on his own early into his career and became sought after for his delicate pen and ink work and ability to render fine detail and high realism.  John has created work for high profile clients such as Canada Tourism, Ontario Pork, Purina, Honda, and Swiss Chalet and his work has been featured in Canadian Living, Chatelaine, McLean’s the Globe Weekend and Star Weekend Magazine. He has won over 65 awards internationally including multiple awards from the U.S. Society of Illustrators, CA Magazine, Idea Magazine and the Art Directors Club of Toronto.

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John has worked in every medium imaginable including watercolour, oil, acrylic, paper, stone, clay, wax, wood and even cheese! This experimentation during his design career led to his versatility and playfulness today as a fine artist.  John is more prolific than ever and has created an astounding array of work in recent years including abstract and realist landscapes as well as sculpture in alabaster and soapstone. His current work celebrates the diversity of Canadian life and landscapes, often with whimsical flair that captures both the artists quirky humour and the spirit of Canadian culture. John spent the last decade cruising around the world with his wife Judy and many of his works were inspired by scenes from his travels. He currently resides in Toronto with his wife Judy and cat Violet.