Baiting a Hook Painting

John Grey-Noble was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada in 1953. He graduated from the Alberta College of Art & Design in the early 70’s. He then worked in the graphic and printing industry for many years before moving to Vancouver Island in 2006. The images you are about to view are not in chronological order. My work began to change when I rediscovered the works of Tomi Ungerer. Up to that point composition was like popular music to me. ‘Can you dance to it?’ Whether the changes in my work are brought on by the turbulent times we live in or a side effect of the Covid pandemic I can’t be sure. It may be as simple as age. A memory or emotion becomes triggered and the subconscious pushes it up for review. To express these feelings I draw from past techniques, explore new vistas, scraping, adding or removing paint until the canvas tells me when to stop. I came to realization that sometimes to express emotion or memory, a slap is as powerful as a caress. Like music, composition can be a deliberate broken brush stroke across a field of colour evoking a feeling of movement, freedom, sadness or joy.  The individual viewer now has complete control experiencing this singular moment in time. This is a recognition of the immediacy of society today. Drawing remains the foundation of my work. Colour and light brings life and mood. Composition and shadow bring drama. When I bring all these things together it is a good day painting. Drawing can be influenced by Albrecht Durer, Michelangelo or Basquiat. A bold statement like Fernand Leger or as seductive as Kitagawa Utmaro drawing you into a series of graphic planes. Colour and light bring an emotional response. It can be warm, peaceful, loving, or even dread and fear. Capturing a single moment in time like Cezanne, Monet, Piper, Van Dyke or Lawren Harris. Although I was aware of artists like De Kooning, Howard Hodgkin and Kandinsky I had opted to concentrate on the complex, yet subtle work, of  A.J. Casson, Tom Thomson and Mary Cassatt. Guiding the viewer through each piece. Now the work of Kurt Schwitters and Richard Diebenkorn, the shadows and drama of Christian Schad, Anton Mengs and Lismer have been added into my compositional mix. Our paintings are part of our life experience. Consciously or subconsciously the work is shaped by our existence. I embrace all those who traveled this path before me and those who have just arrived.