Thursday, March 18, 2010

Felines, Feathers and Fins, Oh My!

A couple of weeks ago, we continued our visit around small town Ontario by traveling up to a few places we'd been meaning to see - much of which included local art and artists. One of these fine folk artists was Janet Donald Wright from Warkworth, Ontario. She's an animal lover and it shows in almost every one of her pieces which so playfully depict nature.

Frank and I had the pleasure of meeting her where she sells some of her pieces - a shop called Nature on Maine. We had been there a few months prior, and Frank purchased one of her whimsical pieces then. He was in the market for more and that's just what we found.

Janet took time out from her busy day at the studio to meet with us (she and Frank had been in contact via email) and show us some of her incredibly clever art. What makes Janet's work unique is that she uses only recycled items to create her fanciful masterpieces. You can find a few of her offbeat items below. Please remember to click on each of them to enlarge.




Cutie felines adorn slices of a bed post, hung on what appear to be fish hooks. I own a beautiful blue heron which Janet painted on a similar piece. Remind me to show it to you sometime.




An adorable owl sits on a piece from a bentwood chair and was made from barn board, window shutters and pieces of a bed. Its whacky legs and talons were made with dinner forks.




This wide-eyed creature was designed using a piece of picket fence, some Victorian ceiling tin and a slice from a bed post for that oversized eye These pre-existing items and brightly coloured paint transfomed it into a blue-finned wonder.




The body of this emerald green bird was made from an old wooden folk art toilet paper holder. Square nails give it its head feathers and forks make up its feet. Everything in between came from bed posts and ceiling tins.




Spotted fish live their lives in a bubble. The painted parts are on denim attached to recycled canvas. The fish are the result of an unfortunate motorcycle accident. Janet's favourite leather coat sacrificed itself for her while taking an unexpected slide down the highway. The fish were made from this leather. The texture is cat kibble.




These mischievous creatures were made out of corks from wine bottles which Janet made a point of stressing were USED! Other parts include nails, milkweed pods and parts, clay, feathers and other miscellaneous items available to her.




Clever Janet made this long fish's body from a part of an old wooden water ski. Other parts include a bed post piece, ceiling tin and a piece of wooden shutter. I love the expression on its face.




This goofy blue jay was a wooden platter, several shutter pieces, sliced bed posts, forks and chair parts.

Frank bought the following two pieces.


The crow is painted on denim placed on recycled canvas.




The stool was a garage sale find which took well to Janet's lovely horse design.




This impressive deer was made from actual antlers, pieces of a pine bed, picket fence and a wooden turning cut in half for the eyes. It's mounted on a table top.




Mother Nature was made from a picket fence piece, spoons and chair brackets. Her face was made from a carved mug which Janet cut up. The bird was a piece from a broken carving.

Janet has very few items available for sale on her eBay site, but I'm sure you could contact her through that venue if you would like to purchase something similar to the above items. I'm not receiving any revenue by blogging about Janet's art. I just really love her work and wanted to share it with you.

Thanks for the many smiles that your artwork evokes, Janet!

Updated March 28 to add a link to Janet's brand new blog, Instant Karma.

50 comments:

Brian Miller said...

this is wonderful art...i think i like the birds the best...so very cool!

E said...

i think i like the waterski fish the best.

the world is filled with such remarkable talent! we are so lucky...

ciao

Sueann said...

I love all her pieces. So fanciful and unique! Thanks for sharing her work!
Hugs
SueAnn

Tabor said...

She has an excellent eye for turning a shape into something else and then he skill with color pulls it all together. I really like MOther Nature...but then I like her in real life as well.

Leah J. Utas said...

Fascinating stuff.

Phyllis E said...

Oh lovely. Felilnes. A new species? LOL

Seriously, I love art that shows a sense of humour.

Thanks for the post.

Cuzzie P

Anonymous said...

They were indeed enjoyable. I loved the birds. I am learning to paint birds now using an acrylic wash. You were blessed to get to see and enjoy that in person. Blessings
QMM

Susie said...

Isn't Janet clever? I really love all of her work, (although that green bird really catches me eye!) Thank you for introducing her to me.

Daryl said...

She is whimsically wonderful ... and from the tags on those pieces her prices are perfect for collectors. ToonMan would call this PeeWee Playhouse Art .. its a backhanded compliment .. but praise none the less.

järnebrand said...

:) Oh, I loved the long green fish...! That one would look good in my home... Lovely pictures of interesting art! Thank you for sharing! /Jo.

Mental P Mama said...

What creativity! I love these;)

CiCi said...

Wow, this is wonderful whimsical art and one of the cool things is that it is made from using leftover items. Recycled art!! I really love the goofy blue jay. Awesome. And Mother Nature is beautiful.

L. D. said...

They are all so fun and very well created. Thanks for sharing them.

Boozy Tooth said...

What beautiful whimsical and imaginative stuff! I LOVE it! And the mounted "deer" head. Amazing!

messymimi said...

A true artist sees the "angel in the marble" and sets it free.

She is a true artist, thank you for sharing.

Maggie May said...

I like the cats and the fish and I do like the colours that this artist uses.

Nuts in May

steviewren said...

Fun artwork. I love the bluebird and the tiny goat made from the cork. Love the expressions on their faces. She puts a lot of character into each one. Frank made some nice purchases.

Scott Law said...

It just blows me away the crafty, artistic things that people create. Nice job on these images!

Kelly H-Y said...

That is truly amazing! You are right ... she is clever! She's also so creative and resourceful!!! Loved this tour through her artwork!

Frank Baron said...

Janet's a treasure all right, and I'm glad you're exposing her work to more potential fans. :)

Rosaria Williams said...

These are stunning! Thanks for bringing them to us.

NJ said...

Those are really cool! If I'm ever up in that neck of the woods I'll have to check it out.

Kerri Farley said...

WOW ~ I LOVE these ~ I LOVE that she is recycling and creating ~ very talented lady :)
Thanks for sharing!

Karen said...

What imagination! I love the idea of using old things and making them new. She is really creative.

Cricket said...

Those are some wonderful pieces, and wonderful photos of them. One of my favorite places, which I will not name here for fear people may go there, is loaded with galleries of all sorts. You can shop for hours.

A regret of mine: on our honeymoon, my wife and I saw work by an artist we liked very much in one of our favorite galleries. I wrote down and kept the name. We thought we would buy a painting when the necessary funds were there.

A few years later, they were, and we drove quite a way back to the gallery. Nothing. And no one had any recollection of the artist or his/her work. Same owners, same gallery, usually super-helpful and knowledgeable staff.

We both were positive we had the right place, plus I had written the info down and kept it.

My point is, if you see art like this that you love, you should probably buy it. Now.

Maybe someone who needs this tip will see it here.

christopher said...

Love the vibrant colors. And you take great photos!

Dawning Inspiration said...

What talent... and what fun creations!

Cloudia said...

Wonderful art!

That crow called to me-

Aloha from Hawaii my Friend!


Comfort Spiral

LadyFi said...

What delightfully quirky art pieces.. Love the use of forks for feet!

Anonymous said...

Oh, WOW! These are fantastic!
The felines are the cat's meow, and I'm wondering how many of those fabulous fish are now owned by Frank.

Suldog said...

Very cool. I love clever use of other objects for art. I have a friend who, in a similar fashion to the owls, uses silverware (exclusively) to fashion human figurines. He gifted me with a guitar player with fork arms, body of a spoon for the head, etc., where the bass guitar (my instrument) is a large tablespoon 'strung' with brass wire. One of my prized possessions.

Cheryl Kohan said...

I think recycled art is fabulous. Probably my favorite kind of art. I love the little cork creatures and Mother Nature is awesome. I checked out the website, too. It's really nice. I like that they have links to the whole area including festivals, etc. Would love to visit up there, sometime.

Tammie Lee said...

thank you for sharing this charming art. It sounds as though you had a wonderful time.

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I love the use of color. The first fish and second owl, my favorite. How fun, this travel trip of yours.

Grayquill said...

Frank bought a nice piece. Janet is one eclectic and talented lady. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Hilary for taking the time to photograph my art and your wonderful post. I feel so blessed that I was able to meet with you and Frank.
Also..thank you to everyone who took the time to comment. I hope to learn how to become a blogger. Wish me luck...this is a new road! Janet

the Bag Lady said...

Very cool! Some of these pieces are wonderfully clever. Thanks for introducing her to us!

Brenda said...

I love whimsical art. I started following you so that I could come back again. Nice blog!

ds said...

She makes me smile, too! In fact, I know someone who would just adore that owl. Kibble as texture, tee hee! True creativity knows no bounds. Thanks so much for introducing us to her, and sharing her work.

Zuzana said...

Simply adorable.;) I love the top picture, as you can imagine.;) Batcat would agree.;)
Somehow these images resemble slightly the animal images in your header.;)
I hope you are having a lovely first spring weekend dearest friend,
xoxo
Zuzana

Hilary said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by to admire Janet's wonderful work and to leave her such encouraging remarks. I see in the comments that she has now set up her own Blogger profile (scroll up to Karmacat) so I hope she'll be starting up a blog shortly. Then we can all keep on top of her latest masterpieces. :)

I appreciate everyone's understanding when my own blog visits are sparse. I'll be around to visit you folks during the upcoming week.

Cuzzie, thanks for pointing out the typo.. as you can tell, it's now corrected. ;)

Karmacat/Janet, I'm glad to see that you've set up a profile. Once you get the actual blog started, you'll no doubt acquire a slew of fans. Welcome to blogging and thank you for allowing me to showcase your art. :)

Thanks again to everyone else for the visits while I was away. I'll stop by your blogs over the next few days. :)

Joanna Jenkins said...

I'm am loving the colors in this artwork. Thanks for sharing.
Happy weekend,
jj

SandyCarlson said...

Oh, wow. This is wonderful stuff. I like her artwork very much.

Dave said...

What anamazing blog and photos Hilary! Absolutely brilliant!! I award you your "Best Blog award" for this! :-) Specially liked the fork-legged bird. - Dave

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Hilary: Cute captures of the the animals, people have so much talent.

photowannabe said...

I love this type of art too. Think my favorite is the comical Blue Jay. I don't blame Frank for wanting more.
Thanks for spotlighting a real talent.

Hilary said...

• Joanna, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Sandy, glad to hear it. Janet is very talented, isn't she? :)

• Thanks, Dave but the talent all belongs to Janet. I simply recorded a few photos. Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Thanks, Fishing Guy. You're so right. Janet has oodles of talent. Thanks for the visit. :)

• Thank you, Sue. Your kind words are very much appreciated. Thanks always for stopping by. :)

Pat - Arkansas said...

What an amazingly talented person! Thanks, Hilary, for sharing her art with us.

Country Girl said...

This art is so cool. I love that stool with the horses. And all of the bird items!

Hilary said...

• Thanks for stopping by, Pat. I'm glad you enjoyed Janet's work. :)

• Thanks for the visit, Kate. She's so talented, isn't she? Thanks for the visit. :)