Paintings by John Grey-Noble

Good Afternoon, I thought I'd just give a quick update on the painting front. On Saturday, we took my Juan De Fuca Opus #2 into the Sooke Fine Art Show and now the 'jury is out'. By this weekend I will know if the piece is accepted. The other news is that I did something I rarely due. I'm turning into a picking old painter. Before submission I re-worked part of the central panel of the tryptich, this was okay because I hadn't signed it. On the other hand I re-worked Due East 8am and I had signed it. I kept looking at the original and finally yesterday I worked back into the piece. I rarely do this to a painting, when they are done, they are done. At least that's how I have worked for years. I guess it's not too late for an old dog to learn new tricks. I am also looking at two other pieces and may revise them as well. I think from now on I am not going to sign the paintings until I have lived with them for a while. That also means I won't post them as soo...

It's time again for my submission to the Sooke Fine Arts Show . The entries have to be in by June 27. I have been reworking my tryptich Juan De Fuca Opus #2. It will be my largest entry to date, 4 feet by 16 feet unframed. I look forward to this every year but it is a bit nerve racking. It gives Vancouver Island Artists a chance to have our work seen by the largest audience possible drawing from the Island, Mainland BC and from around the world. It will be a very interesting jury this year which includes Jeffrey Spalding , John Luna and Diane Farris . It will be fascinating to see their choices. I won't know if my entry will be accepted until July 4th. Once I get the news I will post it. Wish me luck.

This is my version of an A.J. Casson painting. It helped me change how I look at landscape. I used the Casson piece as a reference, not trying to copy it completely but more as a study of technique. One of the toughest things to do was to create the shadows on the houses while still keeping the colour of the whitewashed buildings. The twisting river with the oddly positioned buildings draws you through the painting. Casson used this kind of technique in a number of pieces . Thomson on the other hand uses layers of images stacked up all the way to the foreground. Thomson also moves the viewer by placing branches, logs and rocks almost like barriers to direct you through his pieces. A great example of the Thomson technique is a painting called 'The Drive' which depicts loggers pushing logs through a water chute.

One of the major influences in my work has always been The Group of Seven . When I attended High School back east, we had a field trip to the McMichael Gallery to see the groups' work. I think that was when I first got interested in landscape work. When I started painting, I concentrated mostly on cityscape paintings and figurative work, and only dabbled in actual landscapes. I had the opportunity back in the late 80's to do a landscape show and ever since then I have been hooked. I struggled at first and then I used a Tom Thomson painting and then a piece by A.J. Casson as reference. The styles were so different and yet possessed the same qualities, great composition and the ability to draw the viewer into the work and effect a sense of emotion. This morning on CBC News Network I happened to catch a piece on a current project at the Mc Michael. It is the first time non artists have been given a show. The show is called Foot Prints , Legacy of the Group of Seven , take som...