About The Artist

In 1962, when Grant was a junior in High School, he spent a summer in Paris where he was exposed to the original works of the French Impressionists. The following summer he spent traveling throughout Italy, visiting many of the Worlds Greatest Art Museums and was exposed to the majesty of places like Venice and Florence. These early experiences set the stage for what has become a deep appreciation for art.

Grant moved to Virginia in 1966 and enrolled in the Arts program at Old Dominion University. On the faculty and staff at that time were several of today’s most sought after local artists such as Charles Sibley, Ken Daily, Robert Vick and A. B. Jackson. Narelle lived on The Hague and spent his days and nights painting away in his small one room studio. After a year and a half he moved to Boston where he enrolled as a student at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston Massachusetts. While attending classes he also took courses in color theory at Harvard University. Narelle was greatly influenced by his oil painting teacher who was the brother of Leonard Fenniger, the famous German Expressionist.

Expressionist art conceived of itself as something of an opposite of Impressionism. While Impressionism sought to give an outward impression of an object, Expressionism wanted to impose the emotional feel an object invokes upon the object itself. A painting has to have an inner quality one that not only pleases to the eye but inspires and emotional response.

Narelle’s paintings while having an impressionistic style go beyond the traditional approach of impressionist oil paintings. Each subject matter is chosen first because it elicited an emotional response in the artist himself, a feeling or mood that said here is something special. Capturing that essential quality of his subjects Narelle invites us to enter into his world of vision and see beyond the image and enter into the emotional feeling that inspired him to paint the painting.

Fate took their hand in shaping the next thirty years. Narelle put down his paints and ran a family shipping business in Norfolk. In 1990 Narelle remarried to a local and talented Interior Designer, Pearl Jackson. Their combined talent and interest in design drew Narelle closer and closer to his true passion “The Arts”. In January of 2000 Narelle enrolled in The Charles Kello Academy of Traditional Oil Painting. Narelle studied with Charles Kello for two years applying the principles of Traditional Oil painting including practical knowledge of color, design and composition. Working on a weekly basis Narelle has completed over 300 painting. They represent various themes such as: Lake Views; Boating Adventure, Local Landscapes, and Caribbean islands where he as visited.