This is the study for his acclaimed painting titled Epoch which is considered Brocke's masterpiece.  Robert Fulford wrote "His Epoch depicts four men and four horses trudging through a forest that might be medieval if there were not a helicopter hovering above.  His other-worldly narratives with their hugeness and meticulous detail create an eerie drama.  Travis Lutley at Glenbow identifies Brocke in the red coat, in line with his brothers, moving through a section of burnt forest in northern BC.  

John Brocke was born in Edmonton in 1953, raised in both Edmonton and Dawson Creek. He lived and worked in Calgary and later in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia where he tragically passed away in 2009 as a result of an automobile accident. A graduate of ACAD, he also taught and inspired many students at the institution. With his large scale, extraordinary, realist canvases of small, textured brushstrokes, combined with his ability to capture beauty in the ordinary and mundane, Brocke has made a lasting and significant contribution to Canadian art.