Jack O Lantern- Dennis Noble (circa 1980's)
October 30th, 2017- A Daughter’s Legacy
As I look out my window today and see the leaves changed from greens to rustic yellows, juicy oranges and vibrant reds, I watch the wind blow them from their gnarly twisted branches into a final dance to the ground.
I am reminded of how fragile life is and how beautiful it can be to let go of dead things. In June of 2014 my father Dennis Noble, passed away. Leaving this realm for more adventures in another dimension, leaving a huge hole in my heart and leaving a prolific collection of artwork.
I was devastated and heartbroken but his spirit guided me through that horrible time and continues to. With double rainbows leading the way and literal gifts from the grave that appeared on the Summer Solstice, the day of his Celebration of Life, he stuck around. I felt honoured to be at his side for his last breath, to break the ground on his grave site and more importantly, to have been his daughter in this lifetime.
Dennis was the epitome of a true artist and had more creativity in his baby finger then most will ever possess in a lifetime. He filled napkins with doodles of his soul, magazines with his pop art style editorial illustrations and his Stone Church Museum of Art with The Lovers. A reflection of his inner world, The Lovers is an epic collection of paintings. “Simple” figurative master works that illustrate the complexity of love and the human condition.
As his daughter, I watched him paint photo realistic images with a single haired paint brush and a magnifying glass, escorted him to meetings with art directors, posed for paintings, stared at the clouds chasing dragons together and got lost in his colourful paint pallets that I would sneak into my room when he was done with them. As a woman, I was witness to his inner turmoil and tortured artist soul. He suffered from social anxiety, depression and for the last 20 years of his life, chronic pain. Plagued by neck and back issues, he medicated with sugar, sexual and emotional liaisons and masked his pain with an ever-present whimsical sense of humour. He tried to make sense of it all through mystical musings and spent most of his time alone in the Stone Church, creating, meditating and going on his own soul journeys.
As a woman and a mother, no longer just a daughter, the legacy that has been left to me is huge and one that must be honoured. It has now become my life’s work to have this collection of art made public and to bring the story of the Lovers to the world. I know that nothing worth doing in life comes easily and even as I sit here and type out this blog that took me months to begin, I am reminded of this. My first draft was bang on and flowed so easily but as I tried to save it on the website, it deleted instead.
So here I am, sitting in the sunshine making another go of it. As I watch the leaves blow outside of the window in my new office space, moving forward with only minor steps sideways, I welcome you on my new journey.
Noble HeARTworks!
There is beauty and space made in letting go and as such the cycle continues.
Stay tuned as I will be releasing snippets of my journey into cataloguing and selling my father’s art. AND please please please! If you come across anyone who owns a Dennis Noble painting (or is interested in one) have them contact me so that I can add them to my database. The website is a work in progress as is this life :) so please keep checking back for more updates and added images.
With Love and Art,
Adrienne Noble
Noble HeARTworks