ABOUT THE ARTIST     “Beyond God given talent and technical ability, I feel an artist’s challenge is to evoke emotion…to try and capture a fleeting moment in the mood of any subject. My goal is to capture the character of animals at certain moments of their instinctive gestures…to try and convey to the viewer a bit of what that particular animal is feeling at that precise moment.”                                                                                           A childhood interest in drawing foreshadowed his artistic future.  Lino Grifone was born in Santo Stefano, Italy in 1956 and is the oldest of two sons. Shortly after immigrating to British Columbia, Canada with his mother and father he discovered he had a natural ability to draw at a very young age and has always taken his talent very seriously.  His grandfather also had a very strong gifting in painting as well.  "I realized that this was part of my heritage, and that's what inspired me to try my hand at painting".  Lino began painting, but soon turned to taxidermy and then sculpture because he felt that working three-dimensionally better expressed his creativity and love for animals.  "It became an obsession as far back as I can remember.  I loved it, I breathed it, and it was part of who I was growing up.  I remember having this insatiable addiction to create; this addiction still fuels me today and is what continues to drive me to be the best artist that I am capable of becoming."  I thank God always for His gift, the inspiration that could only come from Him.

"The moment I became interested in wildlife art I knew this would be the only thing I would truly be happy doing.  It is what I know best and love most."       His knowledge and love of wildlife is portrayed beautifully in both his taxidermy mounts and bronze sculptures.       Having had a career as a Park Ranger as well as a big game hunting guide has allowed Lino to spend most of his life observing, photographing, and admiring western animals and wildlife in the back-country.  As a sportsman as well as an artist, Lino believes there are similarities between hunting and his art.  "I devote the same intensity, conviction and respect to hunting that I do to art."  Genesis 27:3  "Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison"     Contact Lino Grifone at 250-365-6327 Email:  grifone@shaw.ca