An airbrush artist from Lethbridge who designs hockey goalie masks is celebrating a milestone achievement after his work took centre ice at a recent NHL game. Brendan Stewart said it was a “dream come true” to see Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood wear a one-of-a-kind goalie mask of his design on the April 14 match between the Avalanche and Calgary Flames. “As a young goalie, my thing was I wanted to make the NHL as a mask painter so working with Scott was that dream come true,” Stewart said. Stewart says the collaboration was a month-long endeavour between him and Wedgewood, communicating over through his Instagram page and spending more than 170 hours designing and painting the mask. “Looking at my girlfriend, at the glass, and seeing him skating around in it ... it was just surreal,” Stewart recalled. “It was just so cool to see the art come to life on the ice, for his story to be worn and to be shared.” It was a full-circle moment for Stewart, who grew up as a netminder in minor hockey in Lethbridge. “I was purely drawn towards the gear, the mask and the design of the character that the goalie creates when they wear the mask. Slowly that started translating into my own game,” Stewart said. “I was using stickers and those kinds of things to decorate my mask and slowly started to use an airbrush to paint them.” While the 10-year-old Stewart used those stickers to express his passion for art, he says it wasn’t until about four years ago when he began using an airbrush to create the masterpieces on a larger scale. “I’m an education and fine arts student at the University of Lethbridge, but with the airbrushing and painting side of things, I’m fully self-taught,” Stewart said, adding that YouTube and previous work experience with airbrush artists have helped him hone his skills. Wedgewood isn’t the only national athlete that Stewart has collaborated with. Earlier this year, Stewart joined forces with Team Canada’s Josip Brusic to design and paint a skeleton helmet for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. “These masks take over 100 hours, but it usually feels like six just because the time is so precious to me,” Stewart said. “I love being able to share that with others when they put that on their head, they become that character that they’ve designed along with collaboration with myself and I think just seeing that at those levels really makes it special.” Sitting in his makeshift art studio inside his garage, Stewart is cherishing the milestone moment and says he’s only scratched the surface. “I’m working on my 80th mask now,” he said. “I love the local community, that’s where I started and that’s where I’ll continue paint for, so I’ve got a few exciting ones locally and then moving forward there’s a few on the go.”
