My name is John Grech but I sign my work as JON. I was born and grew up in Valletta, spending most of my childhood with my Algerian grandma, who arrived in Malta in the sixties as a refugee from the Algerian War. She used to tell me all manner of stories, legends, eyewitness accounts. She also supported my interest in drawing and art - she bought me art materials and encouraged me to draw, paint, sculpt...in other words, to make as much of a mess as I pleased as long as I  enjoyed it!

My skills were noticed at a young age and by the time I entered my teenage years, I got to meet one of Malta's greatest artists, Raymond Pitre (he has paintings all over the world, even at the Uffizi in Florence). Despite an age difference of more than 30 years, we became friends and I started hanging out with him in the studio every day. You could say I learnt almost everything I know about art from Ray. Soon after meeting Ray, I started selling paintings and I had my first few exhibitions, which were very well received by local critics. At the age of 30 I started feeling very frustrated with Malta, mainly on account of the smallness of the country and the severe limitations that fact imposed on the local cultural scene - in short, I was bored. So I packed and went travelling around the world - Thailand, India, Palestine, Egypt, Bali, Indonesia, Australia, Cambodia, Russia, etc. I eventually ended up in Prague, Czechia, where I settled and started working as a teacher of English. I lived there for 7 years before returning to Malta 6 years ago.   

In the meantime I have got married and settled in the coastal town of Marsaxlokk. I now work as an employment advisor for prison inmates, helping them settle debts, taxation issues and finding work prior to their release and return to society. At the same time (and with the same intensity of dedication) I work incessantly on my art projects.