Cran studied art at the Kooteny School of Art in Nelson, British Columbia in 1976 and graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1979, where he is a current member of the faculty. Since graduating from ACAD he has continued an active exhibition history, obtaining numerous Canada Council grants and placing his work in many of Alberta’s best collections, as well as in the National Gallery of Canada. Cran's work investigates perception and illusion, and the viewer’s role in how images are formed. Widely exhibited across Canada and internationally recognized, Cran's paintings, included in numerous Canadian collections, have to do with visual tricks, images that appear one way but have been made another way.