About George Grove

George Grove was born in Europe and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. His exposure to the world of the arts began immediately owing to his parents’ involvement as professional artists, collectors, teachers and members of the renowned Canadian artists’ group The Limners. Being surrounded by an extended family of artists and colleagues with high standards of craftsmanship had a profoundly creative effect. As a youth George involved himself in as many artistic activities as he could, pursuing visual art, singing and theater. In 1981 he began studies in Painting and Printmaking and graduated in 1985 with a BFA (Honors, First Class) from the University of Victoria. He has applied his talents to many art practices such as co-founding Ground Zero Printmakers in1986, a non-profit artist-run society for the support of avant-garde, conceptual, and experimental printmaking. He led and exhibited with this group until 1997, helping introduce new ideas into a traditional medium. George has served on the board of directors of Open Space Gallery and has been president of XChanges Gallery and Studios in Victoria. Before moving to Vancouver George created Archive Frames and worked as a master picture framer, preparing important works for museums, galleries and archives in Victoria. His fine art work is in private and gallery collections and has been exhibited both nationally and internationally.

In 1997 George began a new adventure in Vancouver where he worked in the film industry. Work done in painting and mixed media assemblage led to sculpture and props fabrication and character design. In 1998, after working at ET & Co. SMFX studio, he studied beauty and effects make-up artistry at Blanche MacDonald Institute. Subsequent work done at Toby Lindala’s lab and three years at WCT Productions allowed George to develop his natural ability producing animatronics, puppet control systems and wearable prosthetic systems. This work led him to a career in puppeteering and performing. Currently a full member of the Union of B.C. Performers, George has enjoyed working on many different kinds of productions from children’s TV shows to horror/monster movies. Some independent work includes development of experimental systems for ventriloquist puppets and contract work to build unique puppet mechanisms and to puppeteer for the first and second seasons of children’s show Tipi Tales. He has also designed and fabricated custom media puppets for several independent performers.

Returning to his fine art roots in 2007 led George to the Museum of Anthropology’s Renewal Project, working in a team environment with management, designers, curators, conservators, visiting artists and volunteers. George, with the direction of head mount maker and conservator Carl Schlichting was responsible for designing and fabricating support and stabilization systems for artifact exhibition and storage.

George’s most recent puppet was created for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Currently, George is working out of his new studio in Wellington, Ontario.